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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135432">Hell is a Teenage Girl</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterbee/pseuds/glitterbee'>glitterbee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RuPaul's Drag Race RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Demons, F/F, Jennifer's body au, Lesbian AU, Succubus Gigi, demons and lesbians what more could u want, gigi is jennifer and crystal is needy, yes theres gonna be deaths this is a jennifers body au lmao</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:54:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>37,055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135432</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterbee/pseuds/glitterbee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Crystal pointed her finger back at her notes, her chipped nail tapping on the paper, “Look, it says here that if you sacrifice a person who is not a virgin to Satan, the result can still be attained, however the demon will forever reside in the soul of the victim! Jan’s Jukebox sacrificed you thinking that you were a virgin, but little did they know that you haven’t been a virgin since freshman year!”</p><p>Gigi huffed and crossed her arms, “Okay cool, they messed up their ritual. What does this have to do with anything?”</p><p>“It means that you’re a succubus Gigi! You have some...demon inside you! That’s why you have to eat and kill people!”</p><p>“Boys, not people,” Gigi corrected. </p><p>[Jennifer's Body Crygi AU]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>88</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>148</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Through The Trees</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Crystal couldn’t sleep. The two-star motel she was currently residing in was way too cold and the bed covers were making her itch so much she was sure she was going to get a rash the next day. The loud ticking of the clock on the wall was driving her insane and when she looked towards it she realised it was 3am. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t think I’m going to be falling asleep anytime soon, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she thought to herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Groaning in frustration, she grabbed the remote on the bedside table, deciding to at least fill the silence with some background noise from a crappy cable TV show. The TV seemed to only have about three channels so Crystal decided to settle on some reality show about rich women, not really caring about anything on the screen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Next time we are getting a place with a better selection of shows,” She grumbled to no one in particular.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt herself zone out as the ladies on the TV yelled at each other about tennis courts and designer shoes. Her life wasn’t always like this. Jumping from motel to motel, never knowing where she would be next. She once had a normal life, or at least something close to a normal life. She had plans to go to an art college and maybe get a nice girlfriend, or at least a pet cat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was never happening now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A familiar jingle began to play on the TV and Crystal’s eyes snapped towards the screen in recognition, anger building up in her body. She felt her face become rigid and her teeth clench together as a voice on the TV began to speak up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t forget to snatch up tickets for LA’s Musical Showcase! It is sure to be the musical event of the year as Jan’s Jukebox will be there to perform their hit single, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Through the Trees!  </span>
  </em>
  <span>Don’t miss out!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal grabbed the remote and quickly turned the TV off before throwing it across the room at full force, knocking a lamp to the ground and causing it to smash to pieces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pulling the covers over herself, Crystal muttered to herself, “I hate that fucking song…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The continuous ticking from the clock suddenly didn’t seem so bad compared to listening to </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>song again. The song which had been haunting her ever since this whole situation began. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan’s Jukebox. The band that had ruined her life. Ruined her </span>
  <em>
    <span>best friend’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> life. Had turned their whole worlds upside down and changed everything. All the chaos, all the deaths, all the shit that led to her struggling to sleep in a cockroach-infested motel room with a shitty TV, it was all because of that goddamn band.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whatever, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Crystal thought to herself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m going to make sure that show is the last one they ever play.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>A FEW MONTHS EARLIER</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pep rallies weren’t exactly Crystal’s idea of a good time. Sitting on hard bleachers, in a crowded, overheated gymnasium was actually very low on the list of activities Crystal enjoyed. The red-head was never good with crowds to begin with, especially when they were practically screaming in her ear about school spirit or some other crap. If it was up to Crystal, she would be behind the school with Daegen, Daya and Lux smoking a blunt and making fun of all the over-enthusiastic students decorated with blue and gold face paint. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yet, here she was. Sitting in a packed gymnasium, her back starting to ache from the lack of back support the bleachers offered, holding up a banner she had made in art class reading ‘GO DEVILS!’. Amidst the screams, the high school band began to play the school song as the cheerleaders began filing into the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was only one reason that Crystal had shown up to this event and that reason was Gigi Goode. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Genevieve ‘Gigi’ Goode was one of the most popular and pretty girls in the entire school. She was the head cheerleader and practically everyone was in love with her, including Crystal herself. Gigi also happened to be Crystal’s best friend ever since they were five years old. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To anyone else, their friendship didn’t seem to make any sense. They were complete opposites. Gigi was head cheerleader, Crystal was a stoner art kid. Gigi wore designer clothes and Crystal wore hand-me-downs and clothes she found in thrift stores. Gigi could barely do basic math and Crystal had never gotten anything lower than a B+ in her life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their friendship shouldn’t have worked, but it did. What could Crystal say? Sandbox love never dies. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sat on the bleachers and watched with adoring eyes as Gigi and the rest of the cheerleading squad performed their routine. As much as Gigi claimed she couldn’t even touch her toes, she was extremely athletic. Being able to perform cartwheels and backflips without breaking a sweat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi had her dark hair held up in a ponytail and she was wearing the school’s signature colours of blue and gold in the form of an extremely short skirt and a shirt, emblazoned with the school’s logo. Crystal had to try her best not to stare at her best friend’s long legs and instead focus on her performance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cheer team finished their performance with a flourish and Gigi held a purple flag high above her head. The crowd erupted into cheers and Gigi grinned from the center of the gymnasium. Crystal joined in the cheers and clapped proudly for her best friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spotting Crystal in the crowd, Gigi’s grin grew even wider and she waved excitedly. Crystal waved back, trying to keep her own grin under control. She knew she was probably staring at Gigi like a love-struck idiot but she didn’t care. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re totally lesbi-gay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal turned to the source of the comment and found it was her friend Daegen, who was sitting next to her and rolling her eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She huffed and elbowed Daegen, “Shut up. She’s just my friend, you know that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen responded by imitating Crystal’s wave to Gigi, her face contorting into a wide-eyed love-struck expression and put on a nasally voice, “Oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I love you so much! Let’s run away together and get married!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t sound like that!” Crystal huffed, “You’re just acting bitter because I wouldn’t go get high with you in the field.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And who’s fault is that?” Daegen replied, her eyes drifting to the cheerleader in the centre of the gymnasium. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal tried to stutter out some excuse but her bright red face answered the question for Daegen. She simply shoved Daegen and tried to hide the blush searing through her cheeks. There was no hiding how completely whipped she was for her childhood friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the rally, Crystal shoved her way through the crowds of students to make her way to her locker to get ready for her next class. Crystal was in the middle of grabbing her geometry books when Gigi made her way towards her, giving a playful knock on the locker door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smiled and giggled under her breath, turning her attention to her best friend, “Hey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi spun around and planted herself next to Crystal. Her soft lips stretched into a smile and Crystal felt warmth rise up inside her, her own face lighting up as well. Gigi Goode just had that effect on the girl. Even with a simple smile, Gigi could make Crystal’s whole world grind to a halt and suddenly nothing else mattered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her best friend was still wearing her cheer uniform, however her dark hair was now free from the ponytail she was wearing earlier, cascading past her shoulders. Gigi’s hair flowed down her back like dark ink, contrasting with her pale skin and striking blue eyes. To other people her eyes could come across as icy cold, but Crystal knew that wasn’t true. She knew the hottest fires always burned blue. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi flipped her hair back, “Hey Crys...I was wondering if you have any plans for tonight?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told Daya I would hang out with her tonight Geege, why?” She replied. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her best friend pouted in response, “Boo! Can’t you reorganise? There’s this really cool indie band that’s performing tonight at that bar downtown and I wanted to go with you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Correction,” Crystal stated, “You want me to come because you can’t drive and need a ride.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi faked a gasp of horror, “Crystal Elizabeth Methyd! How dare you assume that! Would I, your best friend since we were basically babies, ever do that to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She chuckled in response, “Uhhh, yeah. You would. Remember Widow’s party?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crossing her arms, Gigi huffed, “That was one time! And I apologised for that already!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Crystal closed her locker and linked her arm with Gigi’s as they began to walk down the hallway, “Anyway, tell me more about this band. I thought you didn’t have time to take interest in music?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi faked a laugh and spoke a bit too loudly, “Of course I like music Crys! Am I not allowed to show interest in a band?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Crystal could reply, Gigi pulled her to the side where other people wouldn’t be able to overhear their conversation. She took out her phone and her perfectly manicured fingers began tapping on the screen. She then shoved her phone in Crystal’s face, showing a picture of three girls who looked to be in their early twenties, holding instruments with smiles on their faces. Realisation hit Crystal like a truck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, which girl is the one you’ve set your sights on then?” She said, her shoulders slumping slightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi laughed, “The lead singer obviously, I don’t do backups. Gross.” She pointed towards the girl in the middle of the picture, she had a wide grin on her face and long, wavy, purple hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal pretended to analyse the picture, scratching the bottom of her chin as she peered closer, “Hmmm. I dunno Geege...Look at her tits...Don’t you think they look abnormally long?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a gasp, Gigi playfully slapped Crystal’s shoulder, “Stop it! There’s nothing wrong with her tits, you’re just jealous!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi wasn’t too far off the truth. Crystal was in fact jealous. She got jealous everytime Gigi would find some girl she suddenly had to have, or anytime Gigi would spill all the graphic details of her latest escapade with some random hot girl from out of town. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal knew it wasn’t fair for her to resent Gigi for wanting to fool around with other girls. Gigi wasn’t actually openly out to anyone except for herself. When they were fifthteen, Gigi broke down at a sleepover and confessed to Crystal that she wasn’t attracted to her boyfriend at all and when they had slept together, she had felt disgusted. Crystal held her in her arms as Gigi sobbed and told her that she thought she might be a lesbian. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was the complete opposite, everyone knew she was a raging homosexual and she didn’t care who knew it. It wasn’t like she could hide it even if she tried. She came to school dressed in oversized denim jackets covered in pins and patches and wore massive Doc Martens that stomped down the hallways. She had dyed her unruly, curly hair bright orange and cut it herself, always leaving it disheveled and misshapen. She was the walking stereotype of an art student lesbian. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, she understood why Gigi kept it hidden. Unlike Crystal, Gigi had a reputation in the school and she constantly lived in fear that the smallest thing could cause it to all crash down and burn. Whilst Crystal didn’t care what others thought of her, Gigi’s self worth was built almost entirely on the opinions of other people. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s why Gigi enjoyed finding hot girls outside of town who she could have a quick fling with. She got to have fun and also not worry about it quickly spreading around the small town. Crystal understood completely why Gigi did it, that didn’t mean she liked it though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But could you blame Crystal for building her hopes up that maybe, just maybe, she might actually have a shot with the girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t be ridiculous Crystal. Just because you are both gay does not mean that she is automatically going to be attracted to you. Get a grip.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi waved a hand in front of Crystal’s face, “Hello? Are you listening to me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal jumped and gave Gigi an apologetic smile, “Sorry, got lost in my thoughts for a moment.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes, “Whatever. Anyway, as I was saying. The band is called Jan’s Jukebox. It’s named after the lead singer, Jan. They are originally from New York but they are performing here tonight! I really think I have a chance with her. Maybe you could also snag one of the other member’s? Apparently one of them is french, that’s exciting, no?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhh...I guess?” Crystal chuckled nervously. Of course Gigi had no idea that Crystal had no interest whatsoever in some random french girl. Crystal only had an interest in one girl, and she was currently droning on about how she wanted to be in some singer’s pants. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal really hated her life sometimes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It will be really fun Crys! I promise!” Gigi pleaded, “I got some fake ID’s off some guy Jaida knows and if it turns out to be super boring we can just go down to the diner and get some pancakes or something!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If there was one thing Crystal hated, it was the way she couldn’t say no to her best friend. Gigi had Crystal wrapped around her little finger, and it seemed everyone knew it apart from Gigi herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, fine,” Crystal relented, “I’ll text Daya and tell her that we’ll have to reschedule. This band better be amazing Geege, I swear to God.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi squealed in delight and lunged at Crystal, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl, squeezing tightly, “You are the best! I’ll meet you at your place around 8pm, okay? Wear something cute!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gave Crystal a quick peck on the top of her head and walked away with a wave, a happy skip in her step. Crystal sighed and drudged along to her next class. Whilst she loved spending time with her best friend she couldn’t help but feel a sinking feeling in her stomach about the whole situation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi owes me big time for this. </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Is it hot in here or is it just me?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Wear something cute!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi’s words were ringing in Crystal’s ears as she huffed, fishing through her closet trying to find something decent to wear. She had no idea what constituted as </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘cute’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>for a small concert in a seddy downtown bar. In her head she knew that it didn’t really matter what she wore. She could show up wearing a sack and Gigi would still be happy and shower her in compliments, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to at least look nice for the girl. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know it’s not a date right? She isn’t going to care about what you are wearing,” Daegen chimed in as she skimmed through a magazine, splayed out on Crystal’s bed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal responded by throwing an old pair of jeans at the girl and continued to struggle through her closet. How was it possible she owned so many clothes, yet none of them looked good. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just don’t understand why you can’t hang out with us tonight because of this. I’ve never even heard of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jan’s Jukebox,” </span>
  </em>
  <span> Daya spoke up, sitting cross-legged on Crystal’s carpet, holding a pile of rejected outfits. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sighed, “Gigi really wants to see them. They are from New York or something and it's not often we get big city bands down here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t listen to Daya,” Lux said as she painted her nails, sitting at Crystal’s desk, “Of course she doesn’t know who they are, she only listens to that emo crap.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not emo crap! It’s good music! You should try listening to it sometime!” The tall girl argued. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lux rolled her eyes, “Yeah, sure,” She then turned her attention back to Crystal, “Anyway, I’ve never heard of Jan’s Jukebox either but if Gigi likes them I’m sure they are good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A loud laugh erupted from Daegen, “You’re only saying that because you have just as big a crush on her as Crystal does!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t have a crush on Gigi!” yelled Crystal and Lux in unison. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Out of the group of girls, Lux was the youngest, being a grade below the others. She became friends with the group when she had joined high school and both Crystal and Lux were taking part in the school’s art exhibition. They got on like a house on fire and soon Crystal introduced the girl to Daya and Daegen. The group of friends normally got together in Daegen’s basement, getting high and arguing over who’s turn it was to pick the music. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However it was a different story when Crystal introduced Lux to Gigi. It wasn’t the fact that they didn’t get along, in fact the two girls had very similar interests and when they hung out they always had fun, talking about clothes and fashion in a way that always left Crystal confused and lost. The truth of the matter was that Lux </span>
  <em>
    <span>adored </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gigi. The younger girl looked up to Gigi and wanted to be like her. If Gigi thought something was lame, then so did Lux. If Gigi decided something was amazing, then so did Lux. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn’t actually like Gigi in that way, however that didn’t stop the girls from teasing her nonstop about it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lux stood up and made her way towards Crystal, flapping her hands to dry her nails, “Wear that black dress you got the other week and pair it with that denim jacket you painted with all the birds. It’s a dive bar so you don’t need to look too fancy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanking Lux, Crystal searched through her closet and found the dress and jacket, quickly throwing them on. After getting changed she sat by Daya and gave her a pleading look. The taller girl sighed and grabbed a hairbrush, trying her best to comb through her friend’s unruly hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A couple of minutes later Crystal sat up suddenly, “Gigi is here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen raised an eyebrow, “Girl, how do you-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pink-haired girl was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, followed by Gigi’s voice echoing from downstairs, “Crys? I’m here!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal jumped up and scrambled to grab all her things as Daya mumbled under her breath, “I hate when they do that…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m coming now!” Crystal yelled as Lux threw the girl her car keys. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She quickly ran down the stairs, as the other girls tailed behind her. She was greeted by Gigi standing in her doorway, a bright smile on her face. She was wearing tight black jeans and a crop top, showing off her stomach. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Crys, ready to go?” Gigi said as Crystal tried hard not to stare at the exposed skin on display.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen slapped Crystal’s back and grinned at Gigi, “Oh she’s ready all right, she spent </span>
  <em>
    <span>hours </span>
  </em>
  <span>trying to pick what to wear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I didn’t” Crystal protested as Gigi laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello to you too Daegen, and hello to you guys too” She said, waving at Daya and Lux.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, yes, hello everyone,” Crystal began pushing Gigi out of the door, “Now come on let’s go or we’ll miss the concert.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal unlocked her dad’s car and practically shoved Gigi inside, as the other girls watched and laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bring our girl home by midnight and not a second later!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't get pregnant!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignoring them, Crystal buckled up and began driving away. Gigi was fiddling with the radio and giggled, “Your friends are always so nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh shut up,” Crystal laughed, sticking out her tongue at her best friend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two got into the bar with relative ease thanks to the fake ID’s Jaida had given them. The place was packed with people, which was no surprise considering the small town never normally got out of town visitors. Crystal could even spot some people from their school in there, including some football players and a girl from her english class. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crys, look!” Gigi hissed as she pointed towards the little makeshift stage at the back of the bar. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turned her attention to where Gigi was pointing and saw three girls talking amongst themselves. The girl in the middle was fiddling with a microphone and a girl with short black hair was setting up the sound equipment with her guitar. The third member, a curvy girl with long brown hair loudly laughed as she stood by a keyboard. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can totally tell they are from the city, can’t you?” Gigi said, excited. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal raised an eyebrow and shrugged, “I guess?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Quickly fixing her hair and pulling down her top, Gigi took a deep breath and then grabbed Crystal’s hand and dragged her to where the band were setting up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi greeted what Crystal presumed to be the lead singer, Jan, “Hey,” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She still had Crystal’s hand held tightly in her own. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re Jan’s Jukebox right? I’m Gigi and this is my friend Crystal. I’m a huge fan! I love the way you...play your instruments. You’re really good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The purple-haired girl with the microphone shot Gigi a huge grin, “Yeah that’s us doll! I’m Jan the lead singer! That on the guitar is Nicky and over there with the loud mouth and the keyboard is Brita!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The keyboardist who Crystal now knew was called Brita protested loudly but Jan ignored her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal gave the band a wary and curious gaze, “You guys are from New York right? Why are you guys playing all the way out here? Devil’s Kettle isn’t really a hot spot for up and coming musicians.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan laughed, “Well...we think it’s important to connect with our fans!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even the ones in shitty areas too,” Nicky chimed in with a thick french accent. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal shuffled uncomfortably as Gigi let out a giggle. It wasn’t her normal laugh but the laugh she used when she wanted to get in someone’s pants. Crystal hated that laugh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s so cool,” Gigi said with a flirty smile, “Can I get you guys a drink? We have this amazing american flag shooter, it’s red, white and blue, but you have to drink it fast or it just turns brownish…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Jan smiled, “I’ll take two.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded and quickly hurried towards the bar, leaving Crystal behind. Feeling out of place just standing by the stage on her own, Crystal decided to walk towards the old pinball machine in the corner of the room. She slipped a quarter in as she could hear the girls from the band whispering to each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s her,” the lead singer said with a matter of fact tone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who? Carrot top girl?” Brita said, gesturing in Crystal’s direction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No not that one,” she pointed at Gigi, “Her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” Nicky questioned, “Because she doesn’t seem like it at a-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen I know what I’m talking about! That girl is a virgin!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt herself freeze and turn towards the direction of the band. The machine let out a loud ringing, indicating she had lost her pinball game, but she didn’t care. For some reason these New York assholes were discussing the virginity of her best friend and that didn’t sit right with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know Jan...You see girls like that all the time! Popular hot girls who basically let anyone into their pants. There’s no way a girl like that is still a virgin.” Brita stated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Deciding enough was enough, Crystal stomped her way back over to the stage, her fists clenched in rage.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation and I just want to say that my friend </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>a virgin. She hasn’t done anything like that before and you shouldn’t assume things about her just because of how she looks! She has never been with someone like that and even if she did, she would never go for assholes like you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before they could answer, Crystal turned on her heels and walked away, not noticing the </span>
  <em>
    <span>I told you </span>
  </em>
  <span>look Jan shot her bandmates. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feeling full of anger, Crystal almost didn’t notice Gigi walking her way with two shot glasses, already beginning to turn a brown colour. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, hey Crys!” Gigi said as they bumped into each other, “You know I think that Jan might really like me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal barely took any notice, “They think you’re a virgin Geege.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Gigi laughed, “A </span>
  <em>
    <span>virgin? </span>
  </em>
  <span>I haven’t been a virgin since freshman year thanks to that asshole Steven Evans! Why the hell would they think I’m a virgin?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sighed, “I dunno...I might have...told them you were? They were saying all this nasty shit about you and I had to step in! I couldn’t just stand there as they assumed stuff about you! I wasn’t really thinking about what I was saying.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Putting down the drinks on a nearby table, Gigi took Crystal’s hands in hers, “Thanks Crys...I mean it doesn’t matter that much anyway. If that lead singer wants me to be a virgin then I guess I’m a virgin.” She gave Crystal a wink. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gigi...” Crystal began to say before being interrupted by the sound of feedback piercing the air. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good evening Devil’s Kettle! Are you ready to party!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The crowd roared in reply and the singer flashed the audience a smile. She then paused and gave Gigi a wink, causing her to elbow Crystal in the side in excitement. Crystal rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We are Jan’s Jukebox and this song is called ‘Through the Trees’, I hope you enjoy!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The band launched into a pop song with some generic lyrics. It wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible </span>
  </em>
  <span>and Crystal did have to admit that the lead singer had a really nice voice. It just wasn’t anything special. She wasn’t going to be desperately searching for their songs after the show or anything. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi didn’t seem to care though, as she gazed adoringly at the singer on the stage. Crystal could feel her heart twist as she squeezed her best friend’s hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was the hardest part of being in love with her best friend. Watching her fall head over heels for other people.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the corner of her eye, Crystal could see an orange flicker. Curious, she let go of Gigi’s hand and turned to the source, spotting a small spark from a frayed wire attached to a speaker. No one else seemed to notice as the spark grew larger, inching its way towards the stage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The band continued to play as Crystal stood frozen in place, watching the flicker grow into a flame and begin to climb up towards the ceiling. Crystal could only watch in horror as the flame grew and grew, until eventually it roared and caused a wooden ceiling beam to crash to the ground. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the sound of the bar patrons screaming and panicking that caused Crystal to snap out of her daze. She watched as people tried to run, falling over each other as they tried to escape out of the limited exits of the bar. The blaze kept growing and Crystal coughed as smoke and ash began to fill up in her lungs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She quickly decided that they had to get out of there </span>
  <em>
    <span>now, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and grabbed Gigi’s hand, “Geege! Come on let’s go!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Gigi was frozen in place, still staring at the band. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have to go now!” Crystal pleaded, “Come on!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sounds of people screaming and dying seemed to have no effect on her best friend as she stood there frozen. Crystal grabbed Gigi’s arm and tried to pull her out of her dreamlike state. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know where we can go Gigi! Come on!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi allowed herself to be dragged by Crystal, however her eyes were wide open, almost like she still wasn’t aware of her surroundings. Crystal had never seen her friend in this state before and it scared her. If Gigi’s eyes weren’t open Crystal would have been certain she was asleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She pushed Gigi into the small bathroom of the bar and ran towards the toilet, standing on it so she could reach the window behind it. Crystal panted as she tried to open the rigid window, it took a couple of pushes using her full body weight before it finally burst open. Breathing a sigh of relief, she grabbed Gigi’s hand and hoisted her out of the window, quickly following suit herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they collapsed on the concrete outside, Crystal watched in horror as she saw a man run from the burning building, his whole body on fire. He screamed for a minute before passing out onto the ground, letting the flames take him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The screams seemed to fall deaf on Gigi’s ears, as she sat there still in a daze. Crystal shook Gigi’s shoulders and the girl suddenly let out a choked sob, collapsing into Crystal’s arms, struggling to breathe. Crystal held her close and stroked her hair, watching the horror unfold in front of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank god you guys are alright! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal swerved her body around to see Jan’s familiar purple hair. She had a shot glass in her hand and Crystal wasn’t sure what was in it but she was 95% sure it was vodka. The singer took a long sip from the drink and grinned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She handed the drink to Gigi, “Here, have some of this. It will help with the shock.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Looking like she had seen a ghost, Gigi hiccuped and then took a sip absentmindedly. Crystal glared and grabbed the glass from her friend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How...how did you get out? You were inside just a minute ago! I saw you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan ignored Crystal, “You know, it’s way too dangerous out here! Especially for a pretty girl like you! Let’s go to my van.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s mouth dropped, “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen, we are all very scared right now and everything is going crazy, and I think we need to get this one,” Jan pointed a finger at Gigi, “Into my van.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No way!” Crystal yelled as she held onto Gigi protectively, “No!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crys…” Gigi slurred, speaking for the first time since the fire had begun, “I...I want to see the van…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan clapped her hands, “See she wants to go! All is good! Let’s go!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The singer grabbed Gigi’s arm and began pulling her away, Gigi stumbling behind her. Crystal watched in horror and ran towards them, trying to grab her friend’s attention.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gigi please! Don’t do this! We can go to the diner like you said! I’ll treat you to some pancakes and then you can come to mine and we can have a sleepover. You can even pick the movie! My treat! Just please...please Gigi don’t go with them! Please!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She quickly grabbed onto Gigi’s hands and gave her a pleading look. Gigi stared at her with wide eyes and opened her mouth to speak before being interrupted by Jan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look she’s made her decision, now go home doll,” she said, yanking Gigi out of Crystal’s grip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before she could protest further, Jan unlocked a shady looking black van and shoved Gigi into the back. Crystal could spot Nicky and Brita also in the van before the doors were slammed shut in her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only able to watch in horror as the van drove away with her best friend, Crystal felt something awful churn inside her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck just happened?</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Crystal acts like a dumb bitch in a horror movie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You better have a great excuse for calling me at two in the fucking morning girl,” Daegen groaned, sounding groggy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s hands shook as she held her phone. After watching her friend being taken away to god knows where, Crystal found herself frozen in place, the bar still burning furiously behind her and a wave of ash coating her hair. It wasn’t until the fire engines and ambulances arrived that she finally found the strength to stumble into her car and drive home. As soon as she arrived home she tried calling Gigi countless times, the phone always going straight to her voicemail. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still covered in soot and breathing hard she decided to try and call someone else, desperate to talk to someone, anyone. Her fingers shook as she searched through her contacts list, finally deciding to phone her second oldest friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal?” Daegen said, “Are you still there?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unable to articulate the proper words to describe the night she just had, Crystal let out a pained sob, “S-she’s gone…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen’s tone suddenly shifted from pissed off to concerned, “Who’s gone? What happened? Crystal?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m f-fine,” Crystal stuttered unconvincingly, “The bar...it...it burned down to the ground....everyone was screaming and...and </span>
  <em>
    <span>god </span>
  </em>
  <span>people were dying Daegen, they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>dying. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I managed to get out through the bathroom but I can still see the flames everytime I close my eyes....and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>smell...</span>
  </em>
  <span>oh god the smell...I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal broke off, unsure how to finish her sentence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?!</span>
  </em>
  <span> It burnt down? Are you okay? Fuck!” Daegen paused, “Wait...you said ‘she’s gone’...where’s Gigi?””</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal let out a whimper, “They...they took her...We got out of the building and she was in this weird daze...it was like she was a zombie. Then...then that asshole lead singer from the band came and took her! She took her in a weird creepy tour van and just fucking drove away! She’s m-missing...we...we need to go find her!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal. Breathe.” Daegen said in a whisper. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-how can I just breathe!?” She said, hyperventilating, “Did you not hear me?! Gigi is missing! She could be murdered by now for all we know!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop!” Daegen interrupted, “You are not helping anyone by freaking out! Try to breathe and think rationally. Gigi is probably fine! You know her, she can handle herself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was about to rebuttal when suddenly she heard the doorbell ring, “Shit...someone’s at the door…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who the fuck is going to be at your door at two in the morning? Just ignore it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But...what if it’s Gigi?” She whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen groaned, “Why would Gigi be at your door at this time? Wouldn’t she just call or text you?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I don’t know,” she stammered, “but I can’t risk the chance of losing her again…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She crept down the stairs slowly as Daegen yelled at her on the other side of the line about acting like some stupid white girl in a horror film. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jesus Christ Crystal, are you even listening to me? If you die can I at least get your stuff?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pressing the hang up button, Crystal stepped out onto the porch of her house. She felt the cool night air against her cheeks as she looked around. There was nobody there. She decided to step out further into her drive and peer around, hoping desperately to catch a glimpse of her best friend’s dark hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sighing in defeat, she turned around and headed back inside only to peer up and scream in horror, dropping her phone to the ground with a loud clang. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took Crystal a few minutes to process what she was seeing, only able to stare in shock, frozen in place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi was standing in the dim hallway, her body hunched over as she twitched slightly, smiling a harsh, twisted smile. She was sickly pale and covered in blood and dirt, her clothes torn to pieces. Her eyes looked dark and sunken, a complete contrast to the way they normally sparkled whenever Crystal was around. Her makeup was smeared, mascara running down in thin trails on her cheeks. Whilst Gigi liked to make sure her hair was perfect at all times, right now it looked like a bird’s nest, sticking out in every direction. She looked horrifying, like she had been run over by a truck and then hit with a baseball bat a hundred times for good measure. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geege?” Crystal whispered in horror as Gigi smiled wider, exposing her blood-singed teeth, “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi didn’t answer, only smiling in silence. The only sound in the room was the loud ticking of a clock and the dripping of blood from Gigi’s clothes onto the tiled floor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“G-Gigi…” Crystal tried again, trembling, “What happened to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Again, no answer. Gigi simply turned on her heels and stumbled into Crystal’s kitchen, Crystal quickly following behind her. Despite her baby deer-like legs Gigi always managed to carry herself gracefully, however, now she looked like a baby walking for the first time, her gangly legs twisting and turning almost unnaturally. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal watched in a mixture of confusion and horror as Gigi began rooting through her cabinets carelessly, throwing cans and boxes down to the ground as she growled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhhh...Gigi?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl spun around and tilted her head, showing off her blood stained lips to Crystal. She ignored the girl’s questions and made her way to the refrigerator, head continuously twitching to the side. She pulled out a whole cooked chicken and began tearing it apart with her hands, shoving fistfalls of chicken into her mouth, squatting on the kitchen tile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mouth wide open, Crystal mumbled, “My mom got that at the….uhhh...market...she needs that…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Gigi began coughing up the pieces of chicken on the ground. Crystal started making her way to her friend in concern before Gigi threw her head back and let out a banshee-like scream at the top of her lungs. She then proceeded to gag and vomit up black bile all over the kitchen floor, splashing onto Crystal as she staggered backwards in shock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stared at the black substance in horror as it started to move around on its own, looking like it was filled with pins and needles. It seemed to have a mind of its own, oozing and spurting on the ground. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Without thinking, Crystal ran towards her friend and grabbed her shoulders blindly, staring her deep in her dark, emotionless eyes. Gigi fell down to her knees and began laughing hysterically in time with Crystal’s heart beating out of her chest. Crystal had never heard her friend laugh like this before, it sounded maniacal and insane. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It sounded demonic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal began wondering if she should call an ambulance, the police or to just run away when Gigi’s skinny arms grabbed her and threw her against the room with superhuman strength. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She crashed against the wall and felt the wind being knocked out of her chest. Gigi walked over towards her agonizingly slow before pinning her against the wall, one hand slamming onto a framed picture of Crystal, coating it in blood. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Frozen in fear, Crystal didn’t move as Gigi moved to brush her cheek against her own, Gigi’s mouth almost against Crystal’s earlobe. She brushed her face down to Crystal’s neck, a hand moving tantalizingly up Crystal’s hip. Crystal could feel the blood-stained teeth scraping on her skin. Her whole body tensed, bracing itself for the violence to come, the smell of metal and blood overwhelming her senses. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you scared?” Gigi whispered breathlessly into Crystal’s ear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A tear ran down Crystal’s cheek as she nodded, her whole body vibrating. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi suddenly pulled back and pushed the girl against the wall once more. Her head tilted as she stared at Crystal almost like she was examining her. Her eyes glazed over and she shoved Crystal away, causing the shorter girl to fall on her knees. Without any warning, Gigi bolted out of the house and down the street until Crystal could no longer see her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stared out the open front door with her mouth agape and wide eyes, the feeling of Gigi’s lips and teeth on her neck still fresh. </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hey guys!!!!! i just want to thank you all for the really kind words and comments!!! Ive never written a multi chapter fic before so it really does encourage me to keep going and want to provide regular updates!!!!!</p><p>I would like to apologise for this chapter being so short compared to the others! I didnt want to add this scene with the next one because I didn't think it would flow very well.</p><p>Anyways! thank you again for all the support! pls comment if u r enjoying the fic and what u think is going to happen : D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Aren't you happy to see me?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next day, Crystal sat in her usual spot in biology class, leaning on her hand as she tried her best not to fall asleep. She hadn’t slept a wink, the traumatic night replaying over and over again in her head in vivid detail. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was bright orange flames, her best friend’s dead eyes and blood-soaked smiles. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal hoped that school would take her mind off all the craziness however she was  proven wrong. News of the fire had spread quickly throughout the town and through the whole day Crystal could hear kids around her whispering back and forth about the event. It was enough to give her a headache. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-I heard Gigi and Crystal were there and they had to fight their way out of the flames-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-look at her! She’s not even moving-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-be quiet! What if she hears you? She probably has that thing soldiers get, PTSD?-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-has anyone seen Gigi today? You don’t think she died too, do you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal groaned and slammed her head on the desk, trying to ignore the gossip surrounding her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You alright there Crys?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eyes snapping open, Crystal peered up and saw Gigi hovering over her, a concerned look on her face. Whilst yesterday she had looked like death itself, today she looked perfectly normal. If anything she looked </span>
  <em>
    <span>better </span>
  </em>
  <span>than normal. Gigi always looked gorgeous but today she seemed to be glowing. She was wearing a baby blue cashmere sweater with a white skirt and her hair was in a loose ponytail. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re...you’re alright!” Crystal stammered in shock. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi raised an eyebrow and took her seat next to the girl, knocking their shoulders together playfully, “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somehow Crystal’s eyes grew even wider, “Because of last night! At my house! You-you were hurt a-and covered in blood! Then you threw up that....black stuff!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The memory flashed in Crystal’s mind, the blood, the unearthly screaming, the bruise on her back from being slammed against the wall. She shivered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have no idea what you are talking about Crys.” Gigi said, avoiding eye contact and staring nonchalantly at her nails. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dumbfounded, Crystal shot back, “What?! Are you kidding me?! Do you not remember last night at all?! The whole bar was engulfed in flames! We had to climb out of the window!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do have a tendency to overreact Crys. Remember that sleepover when you thought someone had broken into your house to murder us and you burst into tears, when really it was just your mom coming home from her night shift.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A lot of people died Gigi! It’s all over the news, the national news!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyone we know?” Gigi hummed, sounding unconcerned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s jaw dropped, “We know everyone!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sucks to be them, I guess” The dark-haired girl shrugged and started drumming her manicured nails against the wooden desk. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong with you?” Crystal hissed. Out of all the years Crystal had known the girl she had never seen her act this cold before. Gigi wasn’t the kind of person to wear her heart on her sleeve but she had never acted like </span>
  <em>
    <span>this. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her friend could be dry and make snide remarks but she wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>mean.</span>
  </em>
  <span> This behaviour was new and disturbing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s nothing wrong with me!” Gigi snapped, “I’m fine! I don’t know why you are interrogating me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In response, Crystal shoved her mucky, black-stained fingernails into Gigi’s face. She had spent hours the night before desperately scrubbing blood and black bile off the linoleum before her parents came back home. She was up till dawn cleaning and intensely sobbing. She knew there was no way she could have imagined it, her black nails were proof of that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi scrunched her nose in disgust, “Ew...You need a manicure, badly. That is disgusting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was saved from having to reply as their teacher walked into the classroom, a grave expression plastered on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good morning class...As I am sure you all know, today is a dark...dark day for Devil’s Kettle.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The teacher was silent for a beat and Crystal kept her eyes glued down to her desk. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We lost nine precious students, including one of our star football players, David Gadow,” he was interrupted for a second by a pained sob coming from the back of the class, “...and your fellow classmate, Heidi.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal swerved her head around and noticed the empty seat behind her. She felt her heart drop into her stomach. She hadn’t known Heidi too well but they shared a couple of classes together and she was always so sweet and kind. Heidi always managed to brighten up any class with her funny comments and infectious smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal didn’t even know she was at the concert. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the teacher continued to drone on about the tragic losses and how they must all unite together, Crystal turned to look at Gigi. Whilst the rest of the class was in a state of shock, near tears and full on sobs, Gigi just looked bored. She was barely paying attention, only staring intently at the clock. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stopping to blow his nose, the teacher spoke up once again, “We cannot let that damn fire win.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Under her breath, barely audible, Gigi whispered, “Looks like it already has.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After class, Crystal pulled her best friend to the side. Her eyes wide and brows furrowed, she looked at Gigi with determination. Something was wrong with the girl and she was going to find out what it was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay?” Crystal demanded, staring Gigi deep in her pale blue eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A flash of something unrecognizable came over Gigi’s face before she spoke up, “I’m fine. I already told you this Crys. What is your problem today?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal ignored her, “You would tell me right? If something was wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I would.” She scoffed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal grabbed onto Gigi’s upper arms and pleaded, “I’m being serious Geege! If you were in trouble or hurt or anything you would come to me right? You would tell me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl paused before her expression softened, “Of course I would. We’re best friends.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sniffed, “Best friends don’t lie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi quickly linked their hands together and squeezed it reassuringly, “I’m fine. I promise. I just drank too much last night with the girls and got a little banged up walking home. That’s all.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing else happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A pause.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No...Nothing else, I swear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both knew she was lying but Crystal was too tired to argue anymore, “I have a bad feeling about all of this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi gave Crystal’s head a pat before pulling her into a tight hug which she immediately accepted, both girls nuzzling each other softly. There was a mutual silence until Crystal spoke up, “I was so worried about you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Opening her mouth to speak, Gigi quickly closed it again as her eyes noticed something behind Crystal. She pulled away from the hug and grabbed a pocket mirror and a lip gloss from her pocket, quickly applying it to her pink lips, “Hold that thought Crys. I have to do something real quick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before she could reply, Gigi gave her a quick wave and walked away. She strutted down the hall with confidence and Crystal watched as Gigi sauntered her way up to the star quarterback of their school’s football team, Steven Evans. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her ex-boyfriend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Confused, Crystal moved closer, pretending to inspect some posters about drug safety so she could eavesdrop on their conversation. Gigi hadn’t spoken to Steven since she figured out her sexuality and broke things off with him. He never knew the real reason why they broke up and tried constantly to get back together with Gigi, despite her obvious lack of interest. Gigi talking to Steven voluntarily was not normal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So why was she doing it now?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal had missed the first half of the conversation but she could hear Gigi let out a flirtatious giggle, “You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>funny Steven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t even hear how Steven replied as her blood went cold, heart beating furiously. She had to be mistaken. There was no way her best friend, a fucking girl-obsessed </span>
  <em>
    <span>lesbian, </span>
  </em>
  <span>was flirting with one of the biggest assholes in the school. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal could feel nausea swirl in her stomach and could barely anything around her except for the loud sound of her heartbeat ringing in her ears. Why the hell did her best friend blow her off to flirt with someone she wasn’t even attracted to?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know,” Gigi said, her voice sickly sweet, “I’m really sorry for the loss of your friend...uhhh…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“David.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, him.” She answered, flipping her hair back, “He really was a great guy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steven sniffed and nodded, “He was...I can’t believe he’s gone. It doesn’t feel real.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal glanced over and noticed that as the boy tried his best not to cry, Gigi rolled her eyes, a bored expression on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, death sucks and all of that.” She moved closer to him, placing a hand on his arm, “But you know, they say you shouldn’t deal with grief alone...maybe we could do it...together…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi interrupted him by grabbing his hand, placing it on her chest, “Can you feel my heart? I think it’s broken…will you fix it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dumbfounded, the boy began nodding his head furiously, not moving his hand from its place near Gigi’s breast. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fucking creep, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Crystal thought to herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi smirked triumphantly, “Great. I’ll meet you after school,” she bit her bottom lip and looked up at him with lidded eyes, “I’m sure we can find some way to handle this grief...together.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal didn’t want to hear anymore and began to storm away from the scene, tears prickling in her eyes. She never believed for a second that she ever had a chance with her best friend, but the fact that Gigi would suddenly want to get back together with her ex-boyfriend caused Crystal’s heart to shatter into a million pieces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she ran away, Crystal didn’t notice the way Gigi’s eyes darkened watching Steven, an evil, twisted smirk making its way onto her face. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hey everyone! again i just wanna say thank u for the amazing and supportive comments!!! it means so much and really helps me to continue writing! I actually wasnt expecting to post this tonight because of how tired I was but i remembered that g3t dust3d 3 is tomorrow and the chances of me actually writing a chapter is p slim cftyvghubn</p><p>so again its a pretty small chapter but i do have some big ones written already! its just a matter of getting to them!</p><p>i hope you guys enjoyed! please let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Lovefool</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I’m going to die alone.” Crystal groaned, her face buried in a pillow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop being so dramatic.” Daegen replied, sitting next to Crystal on her bed and stroking her hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After witnessing her crush flirt with her ex-boyfriend, Crystal had skipped the rest of school unable to bear the thought of looking at Gigi’s face again for the rest of the day. She knew if she looked into Gigi’s bright eyes she would either burst into tears, throw up or both. After spending most of the day crying and getting high, she decided to call up Daegen knowing that despite the girl’s tough exterior she was always a good person to vent to, especially when it came to her own heartache. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t understand Daegen! Watching her bat her eyelashes at that asshole was torture! It was like she was ripping my heart out of my chest and she didn’t even realise she was doing it!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pink-haired girl raised an eyebrow, “You know I’ve told you this before, but-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least let me finish asshole!” Daegen hit her on the arm playfully. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal pouted, “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> going to let you finish because I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>what you are going to say.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? That you should tell her how you feel? I know I’ve told you a million times before but that doesn’t make it any less true!” Daegen argued, “You’ve been in love with this girl for </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> and I’m fed up of seeing you get so torn up about her all the time. It isn’t healthy!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like I haven’t thought about telling her…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yet here we are, years later and you are still sobbing to me about how ‘love sucks’ and all that shit.” Daegen’s expression softened and she put an arm around Crystal, “Just tell her, what’s the worst that could happen?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Death, fire, earthquakes, I throw up all over her favourite pair of shoes.” Crystal stated in a deadpan voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen’s expression furrowed, “I’m being serious.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know!” Crystal cried out, throwing her hands in the air in frustration, “She gets disgusted by my feelings and suddenly wants nothing to do with me! The fact that she could end up hating me forever!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But is this much better? Living in constant heartache? Wouldn’t it better to get some closure? That way if she doesn’t feel the same way you can actually move on.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal shook her head, “I would rather have my heart broken a million times than live in a world without her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen was about to mutter something about Crystal being an idiot but she was interrupted by the sound of Crystal’s phone ringing loudly from her dresser, the familiar jingle of a One Direction song Daegen didn’t remember the name of playing. Crystal quickly dried her eyes and then grabbed her phone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh thank god you answered.” It was Daya, sounding panicked and out of breath. There were loud noises in the background covering her voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Daya? I can barely hear you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it’s because of all the police car sirens outside my house!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Police sirens?!” Crystal shrieked, inciting a concerned stare from Daegen across the room, “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine! Is Daegen with you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal looked across at her friend, “Yeah she is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could hear Daya let out a sigh of relief from the other side of the line, “Great. Can you both meet me at our usual spot at the park by my house? Lux is already with me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold on one second.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal held a hand over her phone and turned to Daegen, “It’s Daya. There’s police cars around her house and she sounds super panicked. She wants us to meet her at the park.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen nodded and Crystal returned to her phone, “Yeah we can both meet you. When do you want us there?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you meet me there in ten minutes?” Daya replied, the sirens growing louder from her side of the line.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal looked down at her pyjama bottoms, “Make it fifteen.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Crystal and Daegen arrived at the park, Daya and Lux were already there. Lux was sitting down at their usual meeting bench, whereas the taller girl was pacing backwards and forwards anxiously. When she noticed her two other friends her eyes widened and she pulled them both into a tight hug.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh thank god you are alright!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah,” Daegen muttered, pulling away and dusting off her clothes, “Of course we are alright. What’s happening?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And why are there cops all around your house?” Crystal added, a concerned expression on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re not.” Daya explained, “They are at Steven Evans house.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal winced at the mention of her best friend’s ex-boyfriend whilst Daegen let out a snort, “Why? Did he try to sell fake peyote to the eighth graders again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No Daegen.” Lux said, speaking up for the first time as she made her way to the others, “He was murdered.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait, what?!” Crystal gasped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daya nodded solemnly, “It’s true. Someone ripped him apart in the woods behind the school. Apparently they ate parts of him...No one is supposed to know yet, but my dad just went over there and talked to the cops and they told him everything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We were just hanging out in Daya’s room when we heard the sirens and everything,” Lux added, “At first we didn’t know who had been killed and Daya panicked and thought it could have been one of you two.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you called Crystal first? Nice to see where your priorities lie.” Daegen said with a dry laugh. She was trying to lighten up the situation but the fear was clear in her eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daya tried to protest against Daegen but Crystal wasn’t paying attention. She was staring at the Evans household just across the street, lit up by the flashing blue and red lights from the police cars. In the window she could see Steven’s mother, face blank and eyes wide open, staring outside in a catatonic state. She shivered and turned back to her friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This can’t be a coincidence…” Crystal mumbled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Lux said, raising an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Think about it. A fiery death trap last night and now a cannibal psycho killer takes down one of the biggest guys in school? Come on...there’s no way this is a coincidence…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daya sat back down on the bench and put her face in her hands, “I don’t know...I just....Well the bad luck has to be over now right? I mean it can’t get any worse, can it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen rolled her eyes, “You know by saying that you have basically cursed us for it to get worse.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls began debating between themselves, sitting out in the cold evening air. They stayed in the park for an hour before deciding to go home. Crystal gave her friends a ride home despite the fact they all lived in walking distance. She was too scared to let them go on their own with the knowledge that there was some psycho killer on the loose. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After dropping everyone off she made her way home and collapsed onto her bed. She was barely there for a minute before her phone began ringing again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I feel so amazing!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> It was Gigi. Her tone of voice was a complete tonal change of the somber and depressing evening Crystal had just had. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhhh, good for you?” Crystal said, confused over why Gigi would phone her just to say that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She must have no idea what happened to Steven, oh my god.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know when you kiss a hot girl for the first time and it feels like your entire body is on </span>
  <em>
    <span>vibrate</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Gigi exclaimed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” She said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> good.” Gigi declared. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal took a deep breath. Even though she hated Steven and the way that Gigi flirted with him, she knew she had to break the news to her best friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geege...The cops found a dead body today...by the school.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi paused for a second, “Who was it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Steven Evans.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another pause. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt her heart begin to ache, “I’m so sorry you had to find out this way Geege! If you need time to process this I understand! I know how much he meant to yo-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was quickly interrupted by the sound of Gigi laughing hysterically, “Crystal </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dumbfounded, Crystal was left speechless, “H-huh?...I thought you would be devastated by this? He’s your ex-boyfriend!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Gigi replied, “keyword there being </span>
  <em>
    <span>ex. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I don’t give a shit about him anymore.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“B-but at school today! You were flirting with him and...and…” Crystal stammered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crys,” Her best friend said with a pointed tone, “Why the fuck would I be flirting with Steven? Have we just forgotten the fact that I’m not attracted to boys in the slightest?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know what I saw! I saw you...and him!” She protested.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi was silent for a second, “Crys...I really think you need some sleep or something. You aren’t making any sense.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m making perfect sense Geege! Just listen to m-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think,” Gigi interrupted, “that the fire and the whole Steven being killed and eaten in the woods thing is really messing with your head right now. I think you should take some time to process and just go to sleep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sighed in defeat, “Maybe...maybe you’re right. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night so…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly,” Gigi stated, “you just need to sleep Crys.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah...Good night Geege. Love you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you too Crys.” Crystal could practically hear the smile on Gigi’s face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hung up the phone and put it on charge by the side of her bed. She collapsed into her bed for the second time that night and sighed. Maybe she really was just overreacting, it had been an extremely traumatic past two days so it makes sense that her nerves would be working in overdrive. She probably just needed sleep, and a lot of it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was almost fast asleep when a thought burst into her head. Her eyes suddenly flew open and her heart started beating out of her chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How the hell did Gigi know how Steven died?</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hey guys! thank u so much for keeping up with this fic it means so much to me! im sorry i didnt update the fic over the weekend, i was rlly busy with g3t dust3d 3 excitement and also the afterparty so i didnt really have time or the energy to write a new chapter.</p><p>ive been having a rlly rough time recently so this chapter is probably not my best and i apologise for that.  i hope that i havent disappointed anyone and u guys r still enjoying this fic!! love u all and the comments u write! it brings me so much joy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Maneater</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Over the next few weeks, Devil’s Kettle had become famous. Not only had the town’s only bar been burnt to the ground but there was also a cannibal murderer at large. The press couldn’t get enough of it and Crystal couldn’t remember what it was like to go to school without reporters and cameras waiting outside anymore. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The town itself seemed to be in a state of mourning. All the tragedies had seemed to drain the energy of the whole town, the atmosphere depressing and grey. Walking down the halls Crystal was bound to see at least three people collapsed on the ground and sobbing or just staring blankly at nothing. Teachers spoke nonstop in class about buddy systems and making sure not to leave the house past curfew, and surprisingly people followed the rules, too scared and driven by fear to do anything else. Days went by and everyone at school seemed too wrecked to enjoy themselves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone except Gigi that was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tragedies seemed to have no effect on the girl whatsoever as she continued to march down the halls with brilliant colour, standing out from the black and white landscape of sorrow. She was glowing, a bright beacon of confidence. Just by looking at her wide smile, you wouldn’t be able to tell that someone had been found disemboweled and mutilated right behind the school. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal had been meaning to talk to her best friend, to ask her how the hell she knew how Steven had died despite it not being public news at that moment in time. The fire, the band, that night in her kitchen, the murders and Gigi; Crystal knew they were connected somehow she just didn’t know exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>how. </span>
  </em>
  <span>It was driving her insane and she needed answers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, weeks had passed and Crystal still couldn’t find the confidence in her to bring it up to her friend. She needed answers but a part of her was scared to know what the truth entailed. It was like Pandora’s Box and Crystal wasn’t sure if she should open it or not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Also there was the issue of how Gigi would react if she started accusing her of knowing something about Steven’s murder. There was the very high chance that the girl would take it horribly and be so offended she would never talk to Crystal again. Crystal knew it was bad but the idea of losing her best friend seemed worse to her than the possibility of her friend being a murderer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was like she told Daegen, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I would rather have my heart broken a million times than live in a world without her.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was early November and the police were still nowhere near to making an arrest. Portions of the woods behind the school were still blocked off with yellow tape but the town seemed to be healing slowly. People were smiling again and becoming more animated, however the shadow of the tragedies still loomed over their heads.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was sitting in her english class, Gigi sitting right beside her as usual, however something was different. For the past month, Gigi had been glowing, practically </span>
  <em>
    <span>sparkling</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but now she looked horrible. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, horrible for Gigi at least.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked haggard, her eyes sunken and her skin sickly pale. Crystal was pretty sure she wasn’t even wearing </span>
  <em>
    <span>makeup</span>
  </em>
  <span>, which was a rarity, considering Gigi didn’t like to be any less than perfect at all times. Her hair was dull and lifeless, a complete contrast to the way it normally bounced and flew past her shoulders like a waterfall. A scowl was painted on her face, looking cranky and impatient. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal fidgeted in her seat, scared to talk to Gigi in case she bit her head off, when their teacher walked in and made an announcement. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As you all know, today is the one month anniversary of the devastating fire that took away ten precious lives from our student body.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Who cares.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gigi hissed under her breath, only audible to Crystal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“However,” the teacher continued with a smile, “I have some good news to share with you all! The members of the pop supergroup, Jan’s Jukebox, have decided to lend a helping hand to our community! As you all know, their song, ‘Through the Trees’, has become our town’s unofficial anthem of unity and healing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh Crystal knew all right. She couldn’t go anywhere without that fucking song playing. It was constantly on the radio, playing at candlelight vigils, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>Crystal had even heard it playing over the intercom at school. She couldn’t walk down the halls without hearing students humming it under their breath or joining together to sing it at lunch as a </span>
  <em>
    <span>healing process. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Maybe for some people the song brought hope but for Crystal it took her right back to the night of the fire. Every lyric brought back the feeling of flames twisting around her, the screaming of terror, the smell of burnt flesh and Gigi’s blank stare as she boarded the band’s van.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal knew every lyric off by heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not only have the band agreed to play at our Winter Dance, but they have decided to release the song as a benefit single! 5% of the profits will go to the families who have been affected by the loss.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The class murmured excitedly amongst each other but Crystal, to her surprise, found herself speaking out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about the other 95%”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The whole class quickly turned towards her, their eyes wide in shock. Gigi on the other hand covered a smirk with her hand, trying to hold back a chuckle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me?” said the teacher. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The other 95%,” Crystal continued, “I mean that’s just messed up right? It feels like they are just exploiting us to make money.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of Gigi’s fellow cheerleading friends, Jaida, swirled around from her seat in front of Crystal, shock on her face. Crystal noticed Jan’s Jukebox pins stuck on her bag, most of them of the guitarist Nicky. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jan’s Jukebox are American heroes!” Jaida protested.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal snapped, “No they are not! I was there, Jaida! They didn’t help anyone escape the fire. I don’t even know how that rumour started.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rumour?” Jaida replied in confusion, “How can it be a rumour? It’s on the wikipedia.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sighed in frustration, “We wouldn’t even know who they were if they weren’t playing that night! They used us for fame and money!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaida was about to protest when the teacher suddenly cut in, “Okay girls! I think that’s enough.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cheerleader shook her head and turned her attention back to the front of the class. Crystal groaned and whispered to Gigi, “I’m so sick of that song.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi ruffled through her books, her eye twitching slightly, “Yeah...It’s really poorly produced...Could the bass be any lower in the mix?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal gave her friend a concerned look, “Are you okay? You look really...tired.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Gigi grimaced, “I feel like shit. My skin is breaking out and my hair is thinning. I feel like one of the normal girls. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal laid her hand softly on her shoulder and she gave a look of concern. Gigi shrunk against her gaze, “Don’t look at me like that! It’s just wearing off or something…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She raised an eyebrow, “What’s wearing off?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Gigi ignored her, instead electing to suddenly take interest in whatever their teacher was droning on about. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two girls stood by their respective lockers after class. Gigi frowned at the students passing them as Crystal grabbed her books. Her frown loosened slightly as she waved over a goth boy that shared art with Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Aiden,” she said, sounding bored, “Listen can I copy your bio lab again? I never got round to doing it and I have no idea what any of it means.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal gave Aiden a smile. They didn’t talk much but both of them didn’t have many friends in art and hence partnered up a lot when it was needed. He didn’t talk much but they both shared a love of horror movies and abstract art. Aiden didn’t seem to notice her smile, too busy focused on Gigi.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhhh...yeah...sure,” Aiden stuttered, “I...uhh...actually wanted to ask you something…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You want to know if I’ll go out with you.” Gigi replied looking unimpressed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No! Well...actually yeah...how did you know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Urgh...Whatever.” Gigi rolled her eyes and grabbed Crystal’s arm, pulling her along as she walked away from the defeated looking boy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was random?” Crystal commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m used to boys asking me out, Crys.” Gigi replied with a huff.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I know that but...he’s a really nice guy Geege. You could have let him down a little easier than that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi stopped dead in her tracks, almost causing Crystal to trip over her own feet, “You know him?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She raised an eyebrow, “Yeah? He’s in art with me, we always partner up. Remember that time I couldn’t go with you to the diner? It’s cause I had to meet up with him for an art project. He’s a bit shy but he’s always super nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi took a few seconds to process what Crystal had just said and then suddenly spun around, jogging after the boy, “Hey Aiden! Wait up!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Aiden stopped, turning to see Gigi approaching him, “How about you meet me at my house tonight? I’ll text you my address.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shock and excitement overcame Aiden’s face as he readily agreed, writing down his phone number for Gigi. Crystal watched with a frown, a familiar ache in her chest coming back slowly. After grabbing his number and giving him a flirtatious wave, Gigi made her way back to Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She raised an eyebrow at Crystal’s expression, “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said let him down easily, not lead him on.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi scoffed, “Who said I’m leading him on?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Umm? Maybe the fact you aren’t attracted to boys, let alone him!” She hissed in a whisper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever,” Gigi rolled her eyes, “You’re just jealous.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi then walked away, running towards her fellow cheerleader friends, Widow and Jaida. Crystal sighed and was left to deal with her brooding jealousy and heartache on her own. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The idea of spending the night alone whilst Gigi was on a date with someone that wasn’t her was too painful to bear. So Crystal called up Daegen, Daya and Lux so they could all get together in Daegen’s basement, get high and forget all about her problems.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The basement was their unofficial hangout spot due to the fact that there were no adults to bother them there, meaning they could be as noisy as they wanted and could get as high as they wanted to their heart's content. The basement was covered in a multitude of blankets the girls had collected over the years due to how cold it could get in there, especially during the winter months. There were some bean bags for them to sit on and a worn out karaoke machine in the corner of the room that Crystal had found in a thrift shop but had to keep hidden in Daegen’s house due to her mother banning the machine after one disastrous attempt at a karaoke party. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a distinct lack of a television in the room, however Daya had managed to snag a projector from a friend and they often connected it to Daegen’s laptop in order to play movies. There was a hot pink mini-fridge in the basement, however Daegen had banned anyone from going near it apart from herself. She argued that since it was her house and she was the only one who kept it stocked up with snacks and drinks, she was the only one who got the right to rummage through it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls were all sitting in a circle, each occupying a beanbag apart from Daegen who had taken over the only couch in the room. Daya had supplied some weed and a bong, the girls passing it around in a circle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-and then I told Mr Smith that his presentation was completely incorrect and that dinosaurs actually would have had feathers! Then he gave me detention for being </span>
  <em>
    <span>insolent-”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Daya, shut the fuck up about dinosaurs and pass me that bong before I kick you out of my house.” Daegen interrupted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daya grumbled under her breath and passed the bong over to her reluctantly, “At least I’m not always brooding and pining over a certain cheerleader.” She said, shooting a look at Crystal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal gasped, “Hey! Leave me out of this! I didn’t even say anything!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lux giggled, the weed already having an effect on the girl, “You say that now but give it ten minutes and you will be crying to us about how she’s the </span>
  <em>
    <span>love of your life </span>
  </em>
  <span>and how you </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t live without her!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I won’t!” She huffed, “She’s on a date tonight anyway, so it’s obvious I don’t have a chance in hell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With who?” Daya questioned with genuine interest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aiden.” She replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aiden?” Daegen questioned, “You mean weird emo Aiden?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s goth actually but yes.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daegen rolled her eyes, “Whatever same thing.” Daya began protesting beside her about how they </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely were not the same thing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lux just looked at Crystal in confusion, “I didn’t think he was Gigi’s type if I’m going to be honest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, neither did I.” Crystal sighed. Whilst the other girls were probably confused why Gigi would go for an outcast, Crystal was more confused about the gender of said outcast. She still couldn’t wrap her head around why her best friend suddenly was interested in boys despite the fact she had stated multiple times she was a lesbian. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look out,” Daegen snorted, “Tomorrow we are suddenly going to see Crystal in all black just so she can try and become Gigi’s type.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal threw a pillow at Daegen, “Shut up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls continued to mess around with each other, passing around snacks that Daegen had provided. It was Lux’s turn to pick the movie that night so they all settled down and began watching. Crystal was fully engrossed in the movie when she heard a dripping sound from behind her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Weird, Daegen doesn’t have any faucets down here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She tried to ignore it but the dripping became more persistent, somehow drowning out the noise from the movie. Frustrated, she turned around and looked in horror as she saw a small puddle of blood on the floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Drip. Drip. Drip.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes wandered upwards and looked on in fear as she saw blood oozing from the basement ceiling, down the walls and onto the floorboards. She gasped and closed her eyes, only to feel the liquid gush over her feet, soaking her socks. She yelped and opened her eyes, looking down to see it was not only blood but also the black bile from the night in the kitchen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sat up and began frantically looking around the room to see her friend’s reactions to the horror but she was quickly distracted by a dark figure in the corner of the room, hunched over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stood in the corner of the room, covered in blood. Her eyes were wild and fogged over, smirking demonically with blood-stained teeth. In her hands was a limp body on the verge of death, thrashing and screeching as Gigi tore into him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite the fact that his skull was bashed in and his stomach ripped apart, Crystal recognised him immediately as Aiden. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal watched in shock and fear as Gigi scooped the boy’s blood into her mouth with cupped hands. Her head slowly tilted up until meeting Crystal’s eyes. Once they made direct eye contact, Gigi smirked, wiping the entrails off her mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A faint voice echoed in the room, a desperate and raggard voice, whispering softly, “Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was at this point that Crystal could feel the air return to her lungs and she began to scream out, scrunching her eyes closed tight to stop the tears from running down her cheeks. She could barely hear her own hysterical cries, the whispering voice ringing in her ears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal?! Crystal! Are you okay?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She opened her eyes and blinked. There was no longer any blood, no bile, no disembodied body parts, no Gigi. Daya sat in front of her, holding onto her shoulders, a concerned look on the taller girl's face. Daegen and Lux were right behind Daya, a mixture of worry and confusion on their faces. The movie continued to play but no one was paying attention. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-what?...” Crystal stuttered, a tear rolling down her cheek.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jesus, you scared us Crystal! We were watching the film when you suddenly just started screaming! We tried getting your attention for five minutes but you wouldn’t stop! You kept crying out the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>hopeless…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was really scary…” Lux muttered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...I…” Crystal stared at her friends, unable to find the proper words to explain what had just happened, “I...t-think I need to go home.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her friends protested immediately but Crystal ignored their concern and stood up on shaky legs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be ridiculous Crystal! Tell us what’s up!” Daegen spoke up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least let me drive you home,” Daya said in a softer tone, “I don’t want you driving in this state-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!” Crystal screamed out. Surprised at the volume of her own voice she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. The other girls stared at her with wide eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tears ran down Crystal’s cheeks as she mumbled an apology, running out of the room before any of them could stop her. Her heart beat out of her chest as she could feel herself panic and hyperventilate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she made it to her car, she sat down in the silence and rested her head against the steering wheel, allowing herself to cry once again.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>wowowowowoWOW!!! okay this chapter was a nightmare to write only bcs im so excited to upload the next chapter! fun fact the next chapter was actually the first part i wrote for this au and its my fav!!!! its quite long so im debating cutting it into two parts but im not sure!!!</p><p>again thank you all so much for the support! im not logged into this account on my phone so i normally cant reply to comments but i hope u all know i appreciate them so much! if u have any questions or speculations to how u think this is going to go pls comment and ill actually try and reply! again THANK YOU! this is my longest fic ever and if it wasnt for all the positive support i probably would have given up on this fic a while ago.</p><p>special shoutout to the cgps for helping me name this chapter (weve been listening to the song on repeat!) also for giving me the idea to make collin aiden! i was originally just gonna have some random boy but they helped make me decide against it!</p><p>next chapter should be up tomorrow see u then!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Maybe she's born with it? Maybe it's demonic possession</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Crystal’s foot was firmly placed down on the gas, as she sped down the roads of Devil’s Kettle in her dad’s beaten up old car. She knew without a doubt she was well above the speed limit, but she didn’t care, the sense of dread still looming in her stomach. All she wanted to do was get home, lay in her bed and go to sleep, forgetting everything that had happened since the fire. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was pouring with rain and the wind roared in her ears. It was too cold for her to have her windows all the way down but that didn’t stop her, the mixture of weed and panic causing her body to feel like it was on fire. The weak headlights of the busted car could barely pierce through the thick darkness and the rain, but Crystal knew this route so well she could practically navigate it blindfolded. That was another difference between her and Gigi. Despite living in Devil’s Kettle her whole life, Gigi was constantly getting lost and having to call Crystal to come find her. Crystal would laugh at her but come and get her every time, usually leading to them going to get milkshakes and spending the whole day together, even if they had already made other plans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ever since the concert Gigi hadn’t called Crystal once to come find her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thinking about Gigi just caused the dark looming sense of fear and panic to settle in her stomach once again. She knew realistically that she was acting ridiculous and it was probably just Daya’s weed getting to her but when they were in Daegen’s basement she could sense that something dreadful had happened. Something terrible and it involved her very best friend since childhood, Gigi Goode. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What Crystal wasn’t willing to admit was that she wasn’t even scared that something terrible had happened to Gigi, but rather Gigi was the cause of the dread. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The car groaned monotonously as it sped down the long roads. Crystal cursed under her breath and began to fiddle with the car radio, desperate to tune her thoughts out and to distract herself with some music. The radio refused to cooperate and just crackled in response. Crystal grunted in annoyance and hit the radio, desperate for something to stop her brain from wandering. Admitting defeat, she sighed and looked back up at the road and let out a scream.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite the shitty quality of her car’s lights there was no doubt what was in front of her. In the middle of the road stood a girl, dark hair flattened by the rain, dressed in only a t-shirt and shorts. However, the worst part was the fact she was drenched head to toe in blood, a slight smirk on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was Gigi. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal quickly slammed her foot on the brakes and swerved, her hands glued to the steering wheel. The hiss of the wheels on the wet road was deafening and the world spun around her in a blur. The car quickly ground to a halt and she let out a breath of relief. She was fleetingly aware that she could have easily crashed on the slippery roads, but that thought was quickly put aside as she remembered what caused her to brake so suddenly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fumbling slightly with her seatbelt, Crystal jumped out of the car, quickly scanning out the area in a panic. Cupping her hands over her mouth she let out a yell,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gigi! Is that you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only response she got was the thunder of the rain hitting the ground. She looked around desperately but there was no sign of her best friend. Crystal </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>that she had seen Gigi, but now it was as if she had disappeared without a trace. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After 10 minutes of searching and screaming out for her best friend, Crystal knew she had to admit defeat. She was cold, high and soaked by the rain. The best she could do now was just go home and hope this was all some sick nightmare. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the journey home went by uneventfully and Crystal was glad her parents were currently not home since she really didn’t want to explain why she was out for so long in the rain. As soon as she got home she took a hot shower and changed into some dry clothes, desperate to just go to bed and forget everything that had happened that evening. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She switched off the lights in her room and collapsed onto her bed, the exhaustion hitting her body like a truck. Crystal snuggled into her sheets and felt her eyes getting heavier and heavier, the only sound in her room being the soft dings from the windchimes outside and the buzzing from the old heating system in the house. Drousiness overcame her like a blanket and Crystal could feel herself slowly falling into the oblivion of sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the third time that night, Crystal let out a blood-curdling scream and jumped out of her bed in record time. She quickly fumbled to her bedside table and turned on her lamp, only to be greeted by Gigi rolling her eyes with a soft smile on her face,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jesus Christ Crys! Enough with the screaming already, it’s just me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal gave Gigi a quick once over and looked at her hesitantly. It certainly was Gigi, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders, hair which should have been soaked from the rain outside. She was wearing the same shirt and shorts that she was wearing on the road, only this time there was a distinct lack of blood on them. She looked perfect, despite her condition not even half an hour ago. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt her fists clench and she pointed at the door, “Get out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi simply pouted and flicked her hair back in response, “But we always share the bed when we have sleepovers…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finding herself speechless, Crystal could only stare at Gigi in a mixture of confusion and panic. She felt her heart pound in her chest, still recovering from her Gigi-related jumpscare. Gigi didn’t seem to take notice, slowly crawling across Crystal’s bed to get closer to the girl, until they were eye to eye. Crystal felt herself gulp as Gigi ran her hand through Crystal’s wild hair, pushing it to one side, whilst keeping direct eye contact. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Desperate to ignore the way her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her ribcage due to the close proximity to her crush, Crystal broke eye contact and looked down, trying to change the subject, “I-is that my t-shirt Geege?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only replying with a giggle, Gigi moved in closer to Crystal until her forehead was resting against Crystal’s. The silence was deafening as Gigi’s lips ghosted over Crystal’s. Frozen from both fear and excitement, Crystal let out a soft shudder, her breath shaking. She closed her eyes as Gigi moved closer and closer, slowly closing the short gap between them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal could feel her heart stop as Gigi’s lips brushed against her own. Crystal had spent years imagining what kissing Gigi would feel like and somehow it was both everything and nothing like she had pictured. Her best friend’s hand rested below her ear, her thumb slowly caressing Crystal’s cheek as their breaths mingled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She moved painfully slow and if Crystal had more confidence she would have grabbed Gigi and pulled her closer, kissing her until she forgot how to breathe. However, Crystal felt her body frozen in place, as Gigi took the lead, beginning to bite down on Crystal’s bottom lip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Almost as soon as it started, it ended, with Gigi pulling away with a smirk, lying back down on the bed. Without a single thought, Crystal felt her body lunge forward, falling on top of Gigi, crashing their lips together again. Crystal had spent years staring at Gigi’s soft pink lips, but now she knew what they felt like and she was addicted. Kissing Gigi sent Crystal into a state of intoxication better than alcohol or any drug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi worked her hands around her body, making their way slowly under Crystal’s shirt. Crystal whimpered softly into the kiss, as Gigi’s gentle fingers glided across her spine. When Gigi deepened the kiss further, Crystal could feel her brain light on fire and warmth spread throughout her entire body. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi’s lips tasted of vanilla chapstick but there was also a faint hint of something else, something metallic and bitter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She tasted like blood.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The memories of the evening suddenly flooded back into Crystal’s head and she sat up, quickly scooting away from the dark-haired girl. Gigi. Her best friend. Her childhood friend. Her crush. The girl who that very same night was standing in the middle of a deserted road, covered in blood. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the first time that night, Gigi’s smile dropped and she looked almost disappointed. She sat up and looked at Crystal in confusion, a silence falling between the two girls. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Panting slightly, Crystal looked at Gigi with panic, “Geege...What the fuck is going on?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi tilted her head in confusion and let out a fake giggle, “Crys, what are you on about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal snapped, “No Gigi! You are not doing this again, I can’t take it anymore!” Crystal ran her hands through her hair in frustration, “I-I saw you! I know I did! I was driving home and you...you were in the middle of the road, covered in b-blood and god knows what else! A-and now you’re acting like nothing is wrong! Like this is just some normal sleepover and you didn’t just show up in my room out of nowhere!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi winced, “Crys I-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, stop,” Crystal interrupted, “You’re going to try and tell me that I’m just imagining things a-and that I'm just going crazy, but you and I both know that something isn’t right, and it hasn’t been since the day of that goddamn concert! Something happened that night and for some reason you are refusing to tell me! So please...Geege...Just stop with all the secrets and lies.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dark-haired girl shuffled uncomfortably on the bed, rubbing her arm anxiously, “Listen, you are just overthinking things, there's honestly nothi-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you even dare tell me that nothing is wrong then leave right now because this isn’t fair,” Crystal felt her fists clench, “Don’t you dare tell me that I’m being paranoid or crazy because I can’t take this anymore. If you can’t be honest with me, your best friend since we were </span>
  <em>
    <span>five years old, </span>
  </em>
  <span>then just leave and don’t bother coming back. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ever.</span>
  </em>
  <span> I’m done Gigi, this is way too much and I just need some answers.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Gigi’s eyes looked down. She sniffled slightly and bit her bottom lip. Crystal knew this expression, it was the same one Gigi gave her when they were eight years old and Gigi had accidentally broken the legs off one of Crystal’s favourite dolls, it was the same expression she gave her when they were twelve years old and she had spilt juice all over a painting Crystal had spent weeks working on, it was the same expression she gave when they were sixteen and Gigi had gotten too drunk at a party and had thrown up in the back of Crystal’s car. It was the expression Gigi wore anytime she had done anything wrong and had hurt Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi was feeling guilty.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was one difference between the two girls. When Crystal was feeling guilty it was obvious, she would cry and cry and beg for forgiveness. When Crystal accidentally ripped a shirt she had borrowed off Gigi, she cried non-stop and spent a whole week begging for forgiveness, despite the fact that Gigi had forgiven her after the first apology. Gigi, on the other hand, didn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve like her best friend. When she felt guilty she would shut down and bury it deep inside. It almost wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone else, but Crystal could read Gigi like a book after years of friendship. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After what felt like hours, Gigi finally spoke up with a barely audible whisper, “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crystal crawled her way across the bed to get closer to Gigi. Cautiously, she linked their hands together and gave her a reassuring smile, “I think at this point I’ll believe anything Geege.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A heavy silence fell over the room again and Crystal was scared that Gigi was going to backtrack and close herself off again, but Gigi took in a deep breath and shuddered, “You were right Crys...That night...I should never have gone into that fucking van.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The van jolted again as it hit another pothole in the unkempt roads of Devil’s Kettle. The roads in the small town were already bad as it was, but the further you went out towards the forest, the more progressively worse they became, being more potholes and fallen down trees than road at that point. This made Gigi shiver nervously, why the hell was she being taken down this way? Why would the band feel the need to take her to the dark and unpopulated forest? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The inside of the van was eerily silent, apart from the low jingle of show tunes coming from the radio and the rumble of the engine. Gigi felt hot, way too hot, like she was being eaten from within by flames. Her giant puffer jacket was not helping her situation, but she was currently wedged in between Nicky and Brita tightly, and didn’t want to risk moving even slightly to take it off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could feel her breathing becoming more rapid and shallow but felt too scared to even try taking in a deep breath, scared that what she would breathe back in would not be air, but the smouldering, black smoke from the fire. She could still feel phantom flames licking up her back and the screams ringing in her ears. She could have died. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>should </span>
  </em>
  <span>have died. When the fire started, Gigi felt her whole body freeze up and she couldn’t do anything, only watch helplessly as people she had known her whole life were burning to death right in front of her. If it wasn’t for Crystal dragging her out of the bar, she would have ended up the exact same way as them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Crystal.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal had begged her to not go in the van, begged her to just come home with her. She didn’t just beg but pleaded, a desperate look in her eyes, but Gigi ignored her and went along with the band anyway, her thoughts still accelerating in her head and her heart hammering in her chest. She regretted her decision now, wishing more than anything she was in Crystal’s bed, hands linked together as they laughed about everything and nothing at once. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi found herself letting out a nervous whisper, “A-are you guys going to murder me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The members of the band laughed in response, and Gigi winced. They then proceeded to ignore her and talk amongst themselves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jan, are you sure this is going to work?” Nicky questioned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lead singer let out a huff from behind the steering wheel, “Of course it’s going to work, I’ve done research!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brita let out a low-bellied laugh, “Wikihow doesn’t count as research, girl!” She then proceeded to look Gigi up and down, almost like she was analysing her. This caused Gigi to shrink down a little, nervously. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The loud band member then raised an eyebrow, “Jan, are you sure this girl is a virgin?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi jumped up quickly and began to stutter in panic, “I-I’m a virgin! I’m totally a virgin! I haven’t done anything like that ever, s-so you should probably find someone who can...uhhh...do that. N-not me, no experience at all, so you should just take me home and forget all about this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They ignored her again and Jan turned around to give her bandmates an expression which said </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I told you so’. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The younger girl could feel a hurricane begin to grow inside of her, panic overtaking her body. She didn’t know what the band wanted with her, but she knew there was no way in hell it was going to be good. Gigi almost felt like laughing, she somehow survived a deadly fire, only to end up probably being murdered in the forest by some sketchy band from New York. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The van suddenly made an abrupt stop and Gigi could feel her heart skip a beat. Her chances didn’t look too good but this would probably be her only chance to escape. As Nicky opened the door of the van, Gigi scrambled up and kicked Nicky to the side, jumping out of the van and beginning to run as fast as she could. She didn’t know where she was going, as fear and panic overwhelmed her senses, she just knew she had to get as far away as possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She barely made it a foot away from the van,when Brita suddenly caught up to her and wrapped her arms around the girl, lifting her up. Gigi began to scream and thrash about in Brita’s arms, tears forming in her eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brita huffed, “Can someone help me with this bitch, If I overexert myself my asthmas gonna begin to act up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky made her way towards Brita, panting, “Give me a chance! She just kicked me in the stomach with those long ass fucking legs.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Armed with some rope from the back of the van, Jan marched her way towards the others, “Come on girls, let’s just tie her up and then we can get this all over with!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan proceeded to hand Nicky the rope and gave her a big smile and a thumbs up, her cheery attitude seeming completely out of place with the situation they were in. Nicky simply rolled her eyes and took the rope, helping Brita restrain the younger, scared girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After tying her up, the band members began to take Gigi into the middle of the forest. The trees blocked out most of the sky, with only a few fragments of moonlight peering through, like scattered pieces of a jigsaw. The long, twisted branches of the trees swayed slowly through the wind and it was deathly silent, apart from the occasional snap of a twig and the cheerful humming from Jan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After what felt like hours to Gigi, they eventually stopped near a waterfall, the white stream creating a constant roar in the background. They set Gigi down on a rock and began to tie her down to the ground. As the girls worked on restraining her, Gigi let out a wrecked sob, “P-please, just let me go...I-I’m begging you, I won’t tell anyone!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brita rolled her eyes as Nicky groaned, “I can’t deal with the crying anymore, is there a way we can get her to be quiet?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan hummed in response as she set up candles around the area. She went into a bag and found a cloth, throwing it over to Nicky who proceeded to use it to gag the crying girl. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Half an hour passed and the girls finally seemed satisfied with their set up. Gigi was tied down to the ground and candles were lit all around her, lighting up the girl with a soft orange glow. She had stopped struggling against her restraints, exhaustion taking over her limbs, however tears still continued to stream down her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan gave a large grin, showing off her pearly white teeth, and clapped her hands together, “Okay dolls I think we are all ready!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lead singer took out a piece of paper from her pocket and cleared her throat, beginning to read,  “We come here tonight to sacrifice the body of....of...uhhhh…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The band members began to look at each other in confusion, all seemingly having a conversation without actually saying anything. Jan sighed and then moved towards Gigi, taking the gag off her mouth, “What did you say your name was again, gorg? Georgia? Wait, no! I got it, it’s Gina!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sobbed in response, “M-my name is Gigi…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan responded with another smile,”Super! Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah! We are here to sacrifice the body of Gigi from Devil’s Kettle-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi let out another scream, “Please! P-please just let me go I’ll do anything, I’ll do a-anything!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Putting away the piece of paper, Jan knelt down towards Gigi and looked her in the eyes, “Look...Do you know how hard it is to make it into the music industry these days? It doesn’t matter how talented or good you are, there’s always going to be someone better. This industry is a bloodbath and sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky moved behind Jan, nodding along as she spoke and chimed in herself with her thick french accent, “Satan is our only hope.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And we are dealing with the big leagues now girl, so that means we really have to impress him, “ Brita added, “And to do that we are going to have to butcher you... and bleed you….and then Nicky here is going to wear your face.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky spun around to Brita about to protest but Jan quickly cut in, “Relax Nicky, she’s joking about the face thing, “ She turned back to Gigi, “The rest is going to happen though, but you know what? Maybe we’ll write a song about you, to honour everything you are going to do for us! Doesn’t that sound fun?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She then proceeded to pull out a large, glistening dagger from her pocket, causing Gigi to scream out in fear, “N-no! No please! I c-can help you! We can...We can sell t-shirts! I can help get you more fans! Y-you don’t need to do this, there are other ways! Please!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan shook her head in response, “I’m sorry gorg but it’s too late for that.” She stood back up and lifted the dagger high above her head, “Dear Unholy Lord, we deliver this virgin upon you, please accept our sacrifice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Gigi could scream again, Jan lunged down and Gigi felt the knife penetrate into her chest. She let out a raw, guttural cry, as she felt the pain sear through her body. Jan twisted the knife out and then proceeded to stab her again and again, searing, fiery bursts pulsating through her wound. The dark-haired girl felt her body begin to convulse and tremble, her thoughts becoming more and more blurry as the pain overwhelmed her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pain began to change from a burning sensation to an icy numbness. Her breath became shallow and ragged as the world spun around her and black filled the corners of her vision. She no longer could tell if Jan was still stabbing her or not, or even if the band were still surrounding her. Everything was beginning to fade away and she closed her eyes in agony, only one thought left in her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m sorry Crystal. You were right. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then everything went dark. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You died.” Crystal whispered, after Gigi had told her the whole story.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded, “I mean...yeah...but also no, otherwise how would I be here right now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stared at the other girl, her mind racing. The rational part of her brain told her that this was all crazy and that Gigi was just pulling her leg and messing around with her. But deep down she knew that Gigi was telling the truth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So...How </span>
  <em>
    <span>are </span>
  </em>
  <span>you here right now? If you don’t mind me asking?” Crystal questioned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other girl responded with a shrug, “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t really remember anything after that. Maybe it’s because I’m not actually a virgin or maybe they messed up the ritual somehow. All I know is that I just suddenly woke up and I was overcome with this...hunger.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt her heart drop to her stomach, “Hunger?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi ignored her, “That’s when I came here...that night, remember? I couldn’t even think properly, all I knew is that I needed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>eat, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and I guess I just instinctively came to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You associate me with food?” Crystal chuckled nervously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shook her head, “No. I came to you because you are the only person I trust. The only person I know who will help me no matter what. I couldn’t really explain it at the time since I was just so overwhelmed with everything and I couldn’t control myself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nodded as Gigi continued to speak, “I was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>hungry </span>
  </em>
  <span>Crys, you don’t understand. I tried everything! But no matter what I ate it just came back up. I even tried raw meat but it wasn’t enough, nothing would sustain me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gigi,” Crystal whispered, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>What did you eat?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dark-haired girl ignored her again, “You smelt so good Crys...It was almost painful...You were right there and I knew that I could have…I could have...” She stopped and took a deep breath, “But I didn’t….I didn’t because even in that state I couldn’t hurt you...I </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>could hurt you. So I ran away…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt her hands tremble as she slowly put them on Gigi’s shoulders, forcing her to make eye contact, “Gigi. What’s happened to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi stared back with her piercing blue eyes, “I don’t know...All I know is that now I have some sort of crazy powers? I mean, look at this!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She proceeded to pick up a pencil from Crystal’s bedside drawer and without a second glance, jabbed it straight into her arm, pulling it down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal shrieked as Gigi’s arm began to bleed, “Geege, what the hell?! Shit!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She jumped up to grab something to stop the bleeding but Gigi pulled her back down with a giggle, “Shhh, just calm down. Look at this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal let herself be pulled down by Gigi and stared at her wound as it suddenly began to heal itself, the skin pulling back together like a zipper on a dress. Crystal’s jaw dropped as Gigi smirked, “Cool right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-how did you? W-wait what?!” Crystal stammered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Putting the pencil back down, Gigi smiled, “I’m like invincible now or something! When I’m full I can do all sorts of cool shit like this, and I also look and feel amazing! It’s great!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was silent for a minute, processing what Gigi had just told her, “What do you mean by full?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The taller girl gave her a blank stare and then suddenly jumped up, settling herself into Crystal’s bed, pulling the blanket over herself, “It’s been a long night Crys, can we go to sleep now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Running her hand through her unruly hair, Crystal nodded in defeat, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to get Gigi to tell her anymore at this moment and if she continued pushing her, Gigi would just close herself off again. She sighed and got into the bed with the other girl, facing towards her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi smiled at her softly and kissed the top of her head, “Night Crys.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gave her a sad smile in response, “Good night Geege.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other girl closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Crystal, cuddling her just like every other sleepover they have had since they were five years old. Crystal wanted to relax and enjoy being in the other girl’s arms, but questions were spinning round and round in her head. What exactly had happened to her best friend? How was she alive? What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>was Gigi eating? Crystal had her suspicions of what her friend meant but she was praying that she was wrong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was also the fact that Gigi had kissed her, and despite everything that had happened that night, Crystal was scared to admit that she </span>
  <em>
    <span>enjoyed it. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her friend was sacrificed to the devil and yet all Crystal could think about was that kiss and what it meant for them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stop being such a useless lesbian Crystal and try and focus on what’s actually important! </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She decided that she would just have to conduct some research the next day and fell asleep with the taste of vanilla and blood still fresh on her lips. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hello everyone! so today has been a rlly rough day but i promised to post a new chapter today and BOY it is a long one! I was originally going to split it into 2 parts but I decided against it, not really sure where i could split it? but now we finally know what happened to gigi and also they finally kiss!!!!!!!!!!</p><p>fun fact! this is the first chapter i ever wrote for the au and its actually my favourite chapter and im super proud of it! without this chapter there would be no fic! again thank you guys so much for the support and im so excited to see u guys react to this chapter!</p><p>i made a playlist yesterday for the au if u want to check it out! it took me hours to make and its chronological. it actually is for the whole fic so u might be able to use later songs in the playlist to try and guess whats going to happen ; ) i spent so long on it and if u guys like it ill try making character playlists for au gigi and au crystal! Thank u all!!!</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0XYqW5X2hT1Zw2oZZAtPOE</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. How to research when you're gay and can't read?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The school held a big memorial for Aiden when the news hit of his death. Every student had to watch more presentations about curfews, and the buddy system and how to deal with grief. However, it seemed like nobody cared anymore. The town had grown numb to the trauma, instead hoping that things would turn around and this would be the last funeral, but Crystal knew better. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t say she was surprised by Aiden’s death and she did show up to the funeral, but the urge for answers was stronger than her grief. She was desperate to find out exactly what happened to her best friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To no one’s surprise the school library was empty. Crystal never really came into the library to begin with, preferring to spend her time in the art classes when she had free time, Gigi sometimes joining her and doodling some fashion designs in her sketchbook. However, Crystal still knew that the library wasn’t exactly a hotspot in the school, and with all the deaths recently and the Winter Ball coming up soon, the last thing students had on their mind was to go to the library to study. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Crystal had a mission to complete. She was going to find out what exactly had happened to her best friend and hopefully anyway that might reverse it. That meant Crystal had research to conduct and she would have asked Gigi to join her but she knew there was no way in hell she was going to get Gigi to read voluntarily, so she knew this would be something she had to do on her own. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was one fatal detail in Crystal’s plan however and that was that she had no fucking clue where anything in the library was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The library seemed to have no signs or anything that would point Crystal in the right direction and she was pretty sure she found a Britney Spears autobiography right next to Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. It seemed like the library had no organisation whatsoever, and Crystal was 95% sure that they didn’t even have a librarian. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In other words, Crystal had her work cut out for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was in the middle of trying to decipher why their school even needed to own a self help book for loveless marriages, when she felt a hand tap on her shoulder. Crystal shrieked and turned around, coming face to face with a girl slightly taller than her, with brown hair thrown back in a neat ponytail and big glasses with black frames perched on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl smiled apologetically and held her hand out to Crystal, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you! You just looked kind of lost and I thought I would see if you needed any help.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nervously took the stranger’s hand and shook it, “Y-yeah...no sorry I didn’t think anyone else was actually here…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The stranger giggled, causing her ponytail to bounce up and down, “There aren't normally many people in here so I don’t blame you for thinking that. I’m Jackie by the way! I work as the library assistant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Recognition hit Crystal like a truck. She didn’t know Jackie personally but she had definitely heard her name before. Jackie was a straight A student with a golden reputation. She was a member of almost every extra curricular activity in the school, from student council to drama club to netball. Even if you didn’t know her personally, you would have seen her name at least once before, especially since she was in nearly every page of the yearbook. Now it seemed she also volunteered at the school library. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m Crystal,” She replied, “Sorry for making so much noise in here…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie smiled, “Ah, Crystal! I’ve heard of you! You helped lead the art exhibition last year didn’t you? I loved your piece based on Keith Haring’s work. Very experimental!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal blinked in surprise at the fact that Jackie even knew who she was, let alone who her art influences were. Jackie took no notice and continued speaking, “Anyway, don’t worry about the noise. There aren’t exactly many people here to disturb. So you are all good!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She let out a sigh of relief and then perked up, realising that Jackie could actually help her in her quest, “Hey Jackie? Do you think you could help me look for a specific genre of book?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie’s eyes lit up and she clapped her hands in delight, “Of course! It can be so boring here on my own so it would be a pleasure to help you. What kind of books are you looking for? I know this place can be quite a maze.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well...uhhh...I was wondering if you have any books on,” Crystal winced slightly, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Satanic sacrifices?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The brunette stared at her in silence for a couple of seconds, her smile dropping slightly, “Satanic...sacrifices?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Good job Crystal, this complete stranger probably thinks you are some crazy weirdo who’s going to try and kill her cat for the devil or something. Nice job!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head, “Yeah...I...uhhh...I’m doing an art project! Yeah! An art project inspired by Satan and hell and….uhhh...demons and stuff.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nice save, idiot. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie’s smile came back in full force as she began to giggle and slapped her forehead playfully, “Of course! Silly me! You’re an artist, you need it for inspiration, I should have realised that! Well I’m sure that we have books like that in our occult section.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal tilted her head, “Our school has an occult section?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s very small,” Jackie replied, “Come with me, I’ll show you where it is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She began to follow Jackie as she led her through the library, the other girl’s oxfords clip-clopping against the tiled floor, and Crystal’s boots echoing behind them. The further into the library they went, the dustier the shelves became, and Crystal could feel a tickle in her nose, ending up in her having to hold back the need to sneeze. The lights flickered slightly as Jackie finally took Crystal to a small section near the back of the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She pointed to a small shelf of old books and smiled, “Here it is, I hope you find what you are looking for!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal enthusiastically thanked Jackie and moved quickly towards the shelf. Whilst there weren’t many books there, there was still enough for Crystal to know that it would take her weeks to read through them all. She groaned in frustration, glaring at the books like they personally offended her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A nervous cough came from behind Crystal, “Um...Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sighed, “Yeah...yeah...It’s fine...It’s just there are so many books and I don’t really know where to begin…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could help you!” Burst out the bespeckled girl. She quickly blushed and looked away, “S-sorry...I didn’t mean to sound so eager...It’s just that it can get so boring here since not many people come down to the library and as much as I love books and reading...it would be nice to have company for once…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal turned to Jackie and took her hands, giving her a big grin, “You know what? That would actually be a massive help. Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two proceeded to spend the rest of the day sitting in the library, with a pile of books on the occult, reading through them slowly and Crystal making notes on anything she thought might be relevant to her situation. Jackie actually turned out to be extremely useful as not only was she a faster reader than Crystal, but she also seemed to have a better grasp on how to figure out which books would actually be of use, and which ones seemed to just be terrible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was almost three hours into their research session when Jackie passed a big, dusty, black book over to Crystal, pointing at a subheading on the page.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said you were looking for things on satanic sacrifices right? Well this book has a whole chapter on it, take a look.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal grabbed the book and quickly skimmed through it. She almost screamed in joy at actually finding something useful and she began quickly scribbling down notes on demonic transference in her glittery, rainbow notebook. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>CHAPTER 8</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>OFFERING A VIRGIN TO SATAN</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When offering a virgin to Satan, it is important to note that if the victim is not a true virgin, the result may still be attained, but a demon will forever reside in the soul of the victim. She must forever feed on flesh to sustain the demon. Throughout centuries, various texts including the Old Testament, The Book of The Dead and the Nekromonican have alluded to the process of demonic transference and have been given many names. However the most commonly used name for this creature in modern times is the succubus. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie smiled at Crystal as she wrote down furiously, “Did you find what you were looking for?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal snapped out of her daze and looked up at Jackie in confusion, “Huh?….Yeah I think? Maybe…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth was whilst Crystal had managed to find out what the hell had happened to Gigi, there was nothing written down on how to reverse the process, which was the main reason she was doing this to begin with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Groaning in frustration, she slammed the book shut, “Okay...I found some things that were useful but It’s not enough! I feel like if I read anymore my eyes are going to fall out of my head!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie smiled at her sweetly, “Well you know, the books aren’t going anywhere. You’ve done quite a lot today, so why don’t you work with what you have at the moment and then just come back to carry on your research?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sighed in response, “I guess you’re right...There’s no point in overworking myself...Thanks for all your help, it really has made such a difference. Will you be in here tomorrow?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie’s face perked up, “Yes! I’m here the same time every day, except for the weekends! So if you need me for anything just call me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal began packing away her things and stood up, giving Jackie a little wave, “Nice. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s a date!” She replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Crystal didn’t hear Jackie’s last words as she was too busy rushing out of the library, almost tripping over her own feet doing so. She didn’t care about anything else at that moment except for finding Gigi and telling her everything she had found out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn't take long for Crystal to find Gigi, considering she knew her schedule better than her own. Gigi would have just finished cheer practice, so the obvious place she would be, was the girls locker room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal knew her way to the locker room very well, despite the fact she didn’t take part in any sporting activities herself. She often found herself waiting outside the room for Gigi to finish up after practice so they could go drive down to the diner and share a strawberry milkshake. Crystal actually preferred chocolate, but she didn’t mind the sacrifice when it meant she got to see Gigi’s delighted smile and her face scrunch up in pain when she inevitably got a brain freeze. Yes, she could very easily just buy her own milkshake, but sharing with Gigi was a tradition and she wouldn’t give it up for the world. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as she suspected, Gigi was in the locker room, folding up her uniform and putting it delicately into her bag. It seemed like she was the only person left in the room, which made sense since Gigi always took forever getting ready, always wanting to look nothing less than perfect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stood awkwardly at the door, watching Gigi put her shoes on. She had been so preoccupied with finding Gigi, that she wasn't actually sure on how to begin the conversation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi turned towards her and when she spotted Crystal her face erupted into a large grin. She waved at her, "Hey Crys."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're killing people." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well done Crystal, what an amazing way to start a conversation. Idiot. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi blinked in surprise and then chuckled, "No I'm not." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sighed in relief and felt her whole body relax. Maybe she was just being stupid and imagining things. Maybe making judgements based on sketchy books in the school library wasn't her wisest decision. Maybe-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm killing </span>
  <em>
    <span>boys."</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nevermind.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal moved her way towards her friend and sat down next to her on the bench. She looked her in the eyes with a pleading look, “Geege...Listen...Maybe there’s a way to reverse this...Reverse whatever those assholes did to you...To save you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi rolled her eyes, “Crys…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Crystal wasn’t listening. She dug into her backpack and took out her notebook. She began flicking through the pages and when she found what she was looking for, she shoved it in Gigi’s face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look,” She pointed at the words </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘demonic transference’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>written down in her scribbly handwriting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Barely giving the notebook a second glance, Gigi pushed it away from her face, “I know we have been friends for years Crys but you know I can’t read your handwriting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal huffed, “Listen to me! I think I figured out what happened to you! I went to the library to do some research and can I just say that was super hard since that place has no organisation and there was almost nobody there. However, it turns out that our library has an occult section! Which is a really weird thing for our library to have, I mean why does a high school need a whole section on demons and satan and shit? It’s pretty small but still-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crys,” Gigi interrupted, “You’re rambling.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head, “Oh...yeah...sorry. Anyway! I managed to find some books that were actually useful and I think what happened to you is a process called demonic transference!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal pointed her finger back at her notes, her chipped nail tapping on the paper, “Look, it says here that if you sacrifice a person who is not a virgin to Satan, the result can still be attained, however the demon will forever reside in the soul of the victim! Jan’s Jukebox sacrificed you thinking that you were a virgin, but little did they know that you haven’t been a virgin since freshman year!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi huffed and crossed her arms, “Okay cool, they messed up their ritual. What does this have to do with anything?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It means that you’re a succubus Gigi! You have some...demon inside you! That’s why you have to eat and kill people!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Boys, not people,” Gigi corrected. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal groaned, “Fine, fine! You have to eat and kill </span>
  <em>
    <span>boys. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That doesn’t matter! What matters is that we finally know what you are!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a roll of her eyes, Gigi stood up, grabbing her bag off the ground, “Cool. So you spent hours in a boring old library to give all of this craziness a name. Congratulations. Is there anything else you need?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stared at her with wide eyes, her mouth open, “Geege...Don’t you get it? If I continue reading through those books maybe I can find a way to reverse it! We can get everything back to normal!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence filled the room as Gigi stared back at her with a blank stare. Eyes emotionless, she spoke up in a whisper, “What if I don’t want things to go back to the way they were?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Standing up quickly, Crystal burst out, “Are you crazy?! This is...This is a curse Gigi! You can’t possibly want to live this way forever?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s words seemed to have caused Gigi to reach the breaking point in her patience, her fist colliding with the locker behind her, causing a loud bang. Crystal jumped in surprise and shrunk down, taking a few steps back from her friend. A flash of concern came over Gigi’s face as she noticed the fear in Crystal’s stance and the way her hands trembled. She took a deep breath and shook her fist, looking behind her to notice the large dent she had left in the metal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crys…” Gigi whispered, “If we reverse the process what do you honestly think would happen?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Body still shaking, Crystal made her way closer to Gigi once again, “Huh?...T-things would go back to normal...obviously…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I died,” Gigi stated with a straight face, almost like she was simply telling Crystal the time of day, “I was stabbed in the heart at least ten times and I died. They might have stabbed me more times but I don’t know because after the tenth stab I couldn’t feel anything anymore because I had </span>
  <em>
    <span>died.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s eyes began to well up with tears, “Stop it...I don’t want to hear it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi ignored her, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I died Crystal, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and I should still be dead...but I’m not. Whether that’s a good thing or not, I don’t know, but if we try to get rid of whatever is inside me then chances are we will get rid of me too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-no!” Crystal shook her head furiously, “You can’t think like that! I’m sure there’s some way we can save you! I’m sure of it! I just...I just need to do more research that’s all! I’m sure there’s a way! I know it!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi sighed, “I won’t stop you from doing research but I am telling you now that there is no point. If you kill the demon then you kill me as well.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wiping her eyes, Crystal stared Gigi down with determination in her eyes, “I’m not giving up on you Geege. I don’t care what you say...I don’t care what anyone says...I’m going to save you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a sympathetic smile, Gigi walked towards Crystal, running a hand through her hair. She moved her hand lower down and caressed Crystal’s face, moving her face closer and closer. They looked each other in the eyes and Crystal felt like she could barely breathe, the distance between the two girls growing shorter and shorter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, a flash of something unrecognisable came across Gigi’s face and she stopped, standing up and giving Crystal a quick kiss on the forehead, “Thank you for everything Crys.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stared at the taller girl in confusion, “I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But before she could finish her sentence, Gigi flipped her hair back and turned around, “I’ll see you later.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Without a second glance, Gigi walked out the locker room, shoulders back and her heels gently echoing through the empty room. Crystal could only watch her, frozen in surprise, as she was left confused and alone.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>another chapter i had written before!!! and we finally meet jackie yay!!!!!</p><p>thank you guys for all ur support it means so much to me!!! i love reading ur comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Do I love her?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Weeks had passed and it seemed that Gigi was right about there being no cure. Crystal had spent almost everyday in the library desperately pouring through every book to find answers. Jackie kept her company in her expedition and Crystal really appreciated the help and also the fact that the girl didn't ask too many questions. Without Jackie she was pretty sure she would have slowly gone insane at this point. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey Crystal, this section mentions that if a person is bitten by a succubus and it is non-fatal that can lead to that person gaining some of their powers. Would that be useful for your project?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Crystal figured out what exactly Gigi was on that first day she quickly changed her research to focusing on that and failed demonic sacrifices. Jackie questioned it but Crystal just told her that satanism was a common art topic but nobody looked at what happened when rituals failed, hence her wanting to look at something new and unexplored. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a shit excuse but Jackie brought it anyway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal shook her head, "That's interesting but not exactly what I'm looking for."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, then what about this!” Jackie quickly skimmed through some pages of the book she was reading and pointed a finger at a page, “It says here that the hungrier the succubus is, the less human they become. The demon becomes more prevalent in their behaviour and any emotions they may have as a human will be magnified. So for example if as a human they would be slightly upset by an action, when they are hungry it will become full blown anger.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess that’s useful? Again, not exactly what I’m looking for.” Crystal sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What exactly are you looking for, if you don't mind me asking?" The other girl questioned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"To be honest I don't know," Crystal groaned, slamming her head on the table with a thud, "All these books talk about the process and demons and all that shit but not how it can be reversed. I mean there has to be a way right?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie chuckled, "Well I wouldn't really know. At least not from personal experience."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Putting her hands on her head, Crystal let out a loud whine, "All these books are useless!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey now, don't insult the books they haven't done anything to you," Jackie joked, "Chin up Crystal! We haven't finished yet! I'm sure we will find something eventually!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nodded reluctantly, "I know you're right and I appreciate all your support, it's just so frustrating!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh! Don't thank me, it really is my pleasure," Jackie pushed her glasses up, a faint blush growing on her cheeks, "I'm just glad to have some company for once."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal raised an eyebrow, "But I'm sure you have way more important things to do. You're in like every club in this school, you must be super busy."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I guess," the brunette shrugged, "It's true I take part in a lot of extracurriculars but that's it really. My life revolves around school work and preparing to get into a good college, so I don't really have any time for friends." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But you're so nice!" Crystal bursted out, "I would have thought that everyone would want to be your friend!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She chuckled, "I don't think it works that way, </span>
  <em>
    <span>especially</span>
  </em>
  <span> in high school...Anyway, it doesn't matter too much, my mom is constantly on my back about doing well so friends would probably just distract me." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie sighed and closed the book in front of her, "It just...gets a little lonely sometimes...that's all."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Giving her a sympathetic look, Crystal reached across the desk and took Jackie's hand into her own. The girl's face went a dark red and she began to sputter, "S-sorry Crystal! I didn't mean to start venting about my problems to you! You're here for research! I shouldn't be so selfish! Oh god...I'm so sorr-" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Jackie," Crystal interrupted, "It's fine. I'm glad you can talk to me! And you know what that means, right?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" Jackie asked, puzzled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It means that we are friends!" Crystal replied with a huge grin, exposing her teeth, "So you don't have to feel lonely anymore!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl stared at her for a few seconds with wide eyes, then peering down at their entwined hands. She smiled softly and rubbed her eyes, “Thanks Crystal...That means a lot...I feel honoured to be your friend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls smiled at each other and giggled. They spent the rest of the day writing notes and going through the school’s occult section but now the air seemed less heavy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that day Crystal’s library trips began to feel less like a chore. She actually had fun hanging out with the older girl. Rather than sitting in silence reading books, they now talked and laughed together as they conducted research. She found out more things about Jackie and vice versa. Jackie was planning to go to Harvard to study law under the suggestion of her mother when really she wanted to go into performing arts. She loved nerdy things and would sneakily watch Star Trek when her mother was asleep. They both loved chocolate milkshakes and had a mutual love for underground queer art. Crystal had her suspicions that Jackie played for the same team as her but didn’t want to bring it up to her in fear that she was just projecting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So...Crystal?” Jackie said nervously, peering up from a massive black book entitled ‘SATANISM 101’, “Can I ask you a question?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal raised an eyebrow and put down her pen, “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She drummed her fingernails against the desk anxiously, avoiding eye contact, “It’s nothing much...I was just wondering what you were doing for the Winter Ball coming up…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Winter Ball? I normally avoid school dances and just hang out at Daegens, unless Gigi forces me to go with her because she doesn’t want to go alone.” Crystal replied, looking down at her notes and noticing how she subconsciously drew a doodle of her best friend in the corner of the page. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie’s body seemed to deflate at the mention of the girl, “Oh...of course...I forgot you’re friends with Gigi Goode…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she’s been my best friend since forever...What does this have to do with the Winter Ball?” Crystal asked in confusion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s just that...It’s stupid,” the drumming grew louder against the table, “I was just wondering if you would...ummm....go to the Winter Ball...with me? But I forgot that you normally go with Gigi so it’s okay!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stared at the girl, dumbfounded. No one had ever asked Crystal to a dance before, apart from Gigi of course but that was different. No girl in their small town would have the courage to go to a dance with another girl and the boys knew very well she was off limits so that meant she never had a date. It was always Gigi who got dates to school events. Every boy would try their luck with her but she always turned them down, choosing to go with Crystal instead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes Gigi would relent and accept a date from some random boy off the football team but that was normally just a coverup so no one would find out her sexuality and ruin her reputation. She would say yes and then proceed to ignore them the whole night and dance with Crystal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal wouldn’t deny that she loved the attention Gigi gave her when they went to dances together. Hell, Gigi was the only reason she would even show up to a school arranged event. However, when they danced together Crystal couldn’t help the way her heart would ache and yearn for something more. She wanted it to be real. She wanted to dance with Gigi as her girlfriend not just as her best friend. She wanted to sneakily flirt with her the whole night and then when the dance was over go into her dad’s beaten up car and kiss until all she could think about was Gigi and the way her lips would feel against her own. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The reality was they would dance and then when the night was over Gigi would sneak out to go sleep with some random girl she had found online. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t say I was going to the dance with Gigi.” Crystal burst out before she could stop herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie’s eyes widened and she looked up at Crystal, “But you just said you always go with her to the dance?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So?” Crystal shrugged, feeling her heart twist, “It’s not like I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to go with her. You know her, she’ll probably find some guy willing to go with her in ten seconds flat. She always gets dates, she’s beautiful and popular, </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>wants her. She’ll probably have one dance with me and then forget I exist for the rest of the night.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie was silent for a few minutes before speaking out in a whisper, “You love her, don’t you Crystal?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal went silent, looking down at the doodle of her best friend, the mock Gigi smiling mockingly at her. Did she love her? Was it love when you felt that you couldn’t breathe, the feelings so overwhelming they took over every sense, taking over your entire being. Was it love when your world stopped on its axis every time she smiled, heart aching when it wasn’t directed at you, desperately wanting to be the source of her joy. Was it love when you spent hours hopelessly pouring over books just for the slim chance that you could save her, despite the fact she was adamant that she didn’t need saving. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Crystal said in a hoarse whisper, “I love her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you told her?” Jackie asked, offering a supportive hand out to Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shook her head and ignored Jackie's gesture, “No. I don’t need to. I know the answer already. I’ve known the answer my whole life, I just pretended I didn’t so I could hold onto the small sliver of hope that maybe I had a chance.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal…” Jackie said, her eyes laced with worry, “I really think-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go,” Crystal interrupted, “I’ll go to the dance with you...and don’t think this is a pity thing or anything? I want to go with you, I think it will be fun...We can go as friends and just enjoy the night together.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bespeckled girl smiled softly, “That sounds nice...I’ve never had anyone to go with before so I normally just volunteer to help with the decorations.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smiled back weakly, “Well I’m glad I’ll be the one to take you to your first ever dance!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two girls giggled awkwardly and Jackie stood up, making her way towards the other side of the table to Crystal. She smiled and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back softly, “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal hugged her back, taking a deep breath and speaking up playfully, “Don’t thank me. It will be an honour to escort such a fine lady to the ball!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They laughed loudly as they continued to hold onto each other, not noticing Gigi standing on the other side of the room, fists clenched in anger and jealousy taking over her face as she stormed out of the library, the two girl's laughter echoing behind her. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>oh my god this chapter was a SLOG!!!! im so sorry its so much shorter than the previous chapters and not as well written, finding motivation to write has been so hard but i felt so bad making you guys wait so long for another chapter!!!!</p><p>i just want to thank u guys for all the support once again. im going to be honest i didnt think anyone would read this because of how self indulgent this fic is and bcs of the warning tags but u guys have been so kind! without all the comments i probably would have given up a long time ago.</p><p>if things go to plan the next chapter should be the first gigi centric pov chapter! (not including her flashback cftyvgh) so keep an eye out!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. I love her</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>If Gigi was asked how she felt about Crystal Methyd she wouldn’t be able to answer honestly. Gigi Goode was a girl made up of half-truths and lies. Her confidence, her personality, her popularity, it was all a facade she had carefully curated over the years. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth was she was in love with her best friend. She had been in love with the girl since they first met at age five, she just didn’t know it at the time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was summer and Gigi's mother had taken her to the park despite her daughter's wishes. Gigi didn't enjoy playing with other children her age, she much preferred staying at home and watching her mother sew beautiful dresses, trying her best to replicate the outfits for her dolls with an old sewing needle, some string and socks she found at the back of her drawer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But her parents were worried about her lack of friends. So that meant she had to stand awkwardly at the side of the sandpit, watching other children play happily in the park. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With one hand she held her favourite doll close to her chest for comfort and with the other she fiddled with the cuff of her dress. unfolding the seam and folding it back again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Are you okay?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi jumped in surprise with a squeak, dropping her doll to the ground. She turned to the source of the voice and saw a girl her age wearing colourful overalls with curly ginger hair. Her face was dotted with freckles and she grinned at Gigi, showing off the gap in her teeth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The strange girl bent down and picked up her doll, handing it over to Gigi with a smile, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I'm Crystal! What's your name?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi stared at her with wide eyes and nervously whispered, "...I'm uhhh...Genevieve...b-but my parents call me Gigi..." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wow!" Crystal exclaimed, "That name's so cool! It sounds like the name of a princess! I'm glad you have a nickname though because that name is SUPER long and I'd probably forget it in ten seconds!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi remained silent, too nervous to be able to find the right words to reply to the hyperactive girl's rambling. She clenched at the bottom of her dress, looking down at the ground, feeling overwhelmed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl, seeming to notice Gigi's discomfort, turned her attention to her doll, "Hey! I have that doll at home too! Yours has a completely different outfit though? I've never seen that dress before!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's because...I...made it…" Gigi mumbled in reply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You made that?!" Crystal yelled in surprise, causing Gigi to jump again. She quickly shot Gigi an apologetic look, "Sorry, my mama always has to tell me about using my indoor voice which doesn't make much sense right now cause we are outside...but anyway! I was just so surprised! It looks so good!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite being scared of the other girl, Gigi smiled softly, a pink blush coating her cheeks, "Thank you...My mom's job is making dresses and I want to be like her when I'm grown up…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's awesome!" Crystal flapped her hands in excitement, "My mama's job is nowhere near as cool...she's a nurse! So she has to work ALL the time! Even during the night which is crazy because you are meant to sleep then! If I stayed up all night and slept during the day I would get in </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>much trouble!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded along despite not catching half of what Crystal was rambling, "Being a nurse is pretty cool too though…They spend everyday saving lives…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other girl hummed half-heartedly in agreement and suddenly plopped herself down in the sandpit, "I guess. It just sounds kind of boring to me! All that blood would just gross me out! I want to do something exciting when I'm older! Like an explorer! Or maybe a professional bowling player!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi sat beside her with a little more grace, being careful not to mess up her dress. She giggled, "I've never heard of a professional bowling player…" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal grinned, "Then I'll just have to be the first! Though I'm not very good at bowling so maybe not...hmm...well I love painting! Maybe I should become a famous artist!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded in agreement, "That sounds like it could be fun…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doesn't it?! I love painting so much but my mama doesn't let me do it a lot because she says I make too much of a mess!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi couldn't really relate to the loud girl. Her mother often praised her for being tidy as she always put away her toys and didn't like to mess up her clothes. The truth was messes gave her a lot of anxiety. She hated the idea of things being out of place hence why she didn't have any friends, as other children her age didn't really care about things like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal definitely gave off the impression she would be messy if the dirt and paint staining her overalls were any inclination. She was loud, messy and a bit overbearing. The girl seemed like a bundle of chaos wrapped up in a neat package ready to explode and cause havoc everywhere. She was everything Gigi hated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yet Gigi was fascinated by her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was the thing with love, it never made sense. Five year old Gigi didn't know it at the time but she had fallen head over heels for the chaotic girl. The way she had tumbled into Gigi's world with no restraints, breaking down every wall Gigi had put up easily as if it had been nothing. Gigi loved the way her eyes sparkled as she rambled, finding excitement in even the most mundane things. She loved the way she flapped her hands when she was really happy. But what she truly loved was the way Crystal would always try her best to make sure Gigi was okay, subtly trying to check on her every so often with a quick glance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Many people liked Gigi but no one made her feel special like Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took Gigi a while to finally come to terms with the fact she was in love with Crystal. That hadn't stopped her from long sleepless nights trying to come up with excuses for why she always wanted to touch Crystal, why she only felt truly comfortable with her, why she yearned for her attention at all times. She would simply shrug it off, convincing herself it was only because Crystal was her best friend and nothing more, ignoring the fact she never had these feelings for her other friends like Jaida and Widow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn't until freshman year that it finally dawned on her and Gigi's whole world crumbled down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was dating Steven at the time, not that she actually ever really liked him. He wasn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>completely </span>
  </em>
  <span>awful like some of the other boys in their school but Gigi still couldn't find it in her to be attracted to him at all. She was dating him simply because that's what was expected of her. She was the head cheerleader and he was the star football player, it just made sense.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was all a facade, just like everything else in her life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Losing her virginity to him was one of the worst experiences of her life. Steven was lovely the whole time but Gigi couldn't even look him in the eyes, knowing that if she did she would burst into tears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he thrust into her she scrunched her eyes tight, imagining that she was anywhere but Steven's room that smelt strongly like axe body spray and dirty socks. She imagined sitting in the park again, the sun beating down on her face and the sound of birds chirping above her. She imagined being back at home, laying in her own bed as she listened to yet another playlist that Crystal had made her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She began to imagine Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She imagined that instead of Steven it was Crystal leaning over her, smirking cockily. She imagined Crystal kissing down her chest and stomach slowly, her fingers dipping down under her underwear. She thought of her hand tangling through the other girl's curls, squirming under her best friend's touch. She imagined Crystal's lips on hers, the taste of her tongue in her mouth. Her stomach flip flopped as she tried to imagine what Crystal would sound like, what she would feel like and how she would taste on her lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That's when the realisation hit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm in love with Crystal.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes shot wide open just as Steven finished and rolled off her lazily. She sat up quickly, breathing heavily, the urge to vomit increasing with every second. Steven simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow, a bliss expression on his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi jumped up and quickly began to throw her clothes back on, ignoring Steven's constant questioning and begging to come back to bed. She ran out of his room and out of his house onto the street, the tears beginning to pool in her eyes. She didn't know where she was going but she couldn't stay with Steven anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She spent an hour walking around the streets, sobbing uncontrollably, sometimes stopping to have a cigarette before starting again. Eventually she found herself at Crystal's house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath she made her way across the side of the house, not wanting to knock on the door in case her parents answered. Next to Crystal's window stood a large tree, the branches practically creating a ledge right into the girl's room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn't the first time Gigi had used this tree as a way to get into Crystal's room so the climb was basically muscle memory at that point, perhaps taking a little bit longer due to Gigi still recovering from her panic attack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she reached the top she gave a hesitant knock on the window. The curtains opened almost immediately and Crystal stared at the girl in surprise, already in her pyjamas.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Geege?" She questioned, "I thought you had a date tonight?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That set Gigi off again as she couldn't help but let out a weak sob, her whole body shaking. Crystal's eyes widened in concern and she quickly pulled Gigi into her room, pulling a blanket over the girl and wiping her tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey, hey...I'm here...What's up? What happened? Do I need to fight someone?!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Staring into Crystal's eyes, Gigi could feel her heart twist. Crystal was the only person who cared for her like this, the only one who saw past the pretty popular girl act.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm in love with you, </span>
  </em>
  <span>is what Gigi wanted to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I think I'm gay…" Is what she actually said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal immediately began to ramble and go on a spiel about how </span>
  <em>
    <span>proud </span>
  </em>
  <span>she was of Gigi and how she will always be her friend no matter what.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl spent the night caring for Gigi and comforting her. She listened to Gigi as she recounted her experience with Steven and tried to offer advice as best as she could. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was when she was in Crystal's arms, the girls soft snores filling the room, that Gigi allowed herself to cry again, knowing full well she could never tell Crystal the full truth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything changed after the concert.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn't think much of her first kill, the overwhelming sense of hunger taking priority in her mind. It was just some random boy that she had found on the street after running from Crystal's house. She didn't even remember how it happened, all she could remember was the remains of his body scattered around her and the fresh taste of his blood in her mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The second time was a lot harder. Not only was she eating someone she knew but she was in a much clearer state of mind. She could very vividly remember the way he screamed and thrashed about as she tore him apart. He let out a wretched sob and when Gigi looked into his scared eyes she felt herself hesitate for a split second before the hunger took over once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she had finished the deed she felt sick to her stomach, the overwhelming sense of guilt taking over. She quickly ran away to the lake on the other side of the forest, trying to wash away the blood desperately, not wanting anymore reminders of what she had done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She laid in the cold water of the lake for hours, watching the drops of blood from her hair dissolve into the water. She thought about letting herself sink down, plunging under the surface, inches from the bottom with no breath in her lungs. Would she even drown? She was already technically dead so was it possible for her to die again? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She selfishly hoped it was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi didn't realise she was crying until her vision blurred from the tears. The crying soon turned to sobbing and she laid in the lake alone, shaking. She cried for so long that her sobs eventually became a dry and scratchy wail. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she sobbed she thought of Crystal and her bright smile. The Crystal in her mind was a weird mixture of her childhood appearance and her more familiar older face. Her body ached as she began to yearn for the simpler days of when they were younger, when everything was so much simpler. When she could love her best friend unconditionally without an underlying sense of fear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi felt the tears prickle in her eyes once again at the memory of her best friend. What would Crystal think of her </span>
  <em>
    <span>now? </span>
  </em>
  <span>She already spent most of her life feeling undeserving of Crystal's attention but now it was even worse. She was a murderer, she was a cannibal, she was undead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was a monster.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thought of Crystal finding out the truth made Gigi's heart twist and ache. She could already see the way that her best friend's face would fall and look at her in terror and disgust. Gigi didn't think she could live in a world without Crystal's bright smile. She couldn't live without the way Crystal's nose would scrunch up and her head would throw backwards as she laughed. She couldn't live without the way Crystal would touch her and hug her without any hesitation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It became very apparent to Gigi that she simply couldn't live without Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Gigi finally left the lake, drudging her way home she came to the conclusion that Crystal could </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>find out about this. Lying to her best friend would be tough but she couldn't take the risk. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She would do anything to keep Crystal in her life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ever since the locker room incident, Crystal had been ignoring Gigi. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Normally they spent most of their free periods together however now Crystal always had some excuse about needing to do more research in the library and as much as Gigi wanted to believe her she couldn't help the small seed of doubt in her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The image of Crystal's scared face when Gigi lost her temper was imprinted in her brain. The way she backed away and her body trembled with fear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She couldn't stop thinking about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was also the fact she almost kissed her. She wanted to do it so badly, she wanted to feel Crystal's lips against hers once again, her hands travelling down every inch of her best friend's body. She wanted all of Crystal and more. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But when she leaned in and looked into her friend's eyes all she could see was how wide they were mere seconds before, staring at her in horror like she was a monster.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That's why she couldn't do it. She couldn't kiss someone as amazing as Crystal because as much as she wanted it, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>god </span>
  </em>
  <span>did she want it, deep down she knew Crystal deserved better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ever since then the two girls had barely spoken two sentences to each other. Gigi tried to play it off, it wasn't like her whole world revolved around Crystal. She had other friends. She could always go share milkshakes with Jaida at the diner, or go shopping with Widow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it wasn't the same.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi missed Crystal. So she decided she would go surprise her at the library. She knew she had told Crystal that she would never set foot in a place like that but maybe it would be fun. She may have hated reading but she could always doodle designs whilst Crystal did whatever she did in there. They could sit next to each other in the quiet and just enjoy each other's company, whispering to each other stupid little jokes and trying hard not to laugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However that plan went downhill as soon as she arrived there. Crystal wasn't alone, she was with some brunette girl who Gigi couldn't remember the name of and to be honest, she didn't actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>care </span>
  </em>
  <span>what her name was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi felt jealousy begin to build up in her body as she shook in anger seeing how close the two girls were. How come Crystal had never told her about this 'friend' before? Why would she feel the need to keep it a secret?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn't until Gigi overheard Crystal speak that it all started to make sense and she felt her heart break into pieces.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m glad I’ll be the one to take you to your first ever dance!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal was taking this girl to the dance despite the fact that her and Gigi </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>went to dances together, which meant only one thing. Crystal and this random girl were dating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi couldn't tell if she was angry or heartbroken but either way she couldn't stand to watch Crystal flirt with someone that wasn't her anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stormed out of the library before the girls could even notice her presence, her fists clenched in unbridled rage. She didn't know where she was going but she didn't care. All she knew was that she had to leave before she marched towards them and threw the bespeckled girl towards the bookcases, maybe smashing her face against her precious books for good measure. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Without realising it, Gigi had made her way towards the park. The one where she met Crystal for the very first time. Her rage died down and she collapsed onto her knees, sobbing weakly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knew this would happen. She knew one day Crystal would find someone and leave her. It was only a matter of time, she just wished it hadn't happened so soon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi was pretty sure Crystal didn't even want to be her friend anymore, </span>
  <em>
    <span>let alone </span>
  </em>
  <span>anything more than that. She couldn't even blame her, Gigi was a monster now. Why would Crystal want someone like her when she could settle for some nice library assistant who didn't kill and eat boys.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sniffled and got back up on her feet slowly, making her way across the park. The grass was overgrown due to the lack of maintenance and there were weeds everywhere. She could feel crunching under her feet as she stood on discarded broken glass bottles, but she couldn't find it in herself to care that much.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She eventually made her way towards an old oak tree standing tall over the park. She bent down and it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for, the location ingrained into her memory. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Near the bottom of the trunk of the tree were faded initials engraved onto the wood. Gigi felt her fingertips brush against the letters, a bitter smile on her face as the tears laid salty on her cheeks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>G + C </span>
  </em>
  <span>surrounded by a wonky heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Gigi?…" A nine year old Crystal spoke out hesitantly as she swung high on the swing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"What's up Crys?" Gigi replied from the swing next to her friend, not going as high in fear of scuffing her shoes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I just…" She said nervously, slowing down her swings, "I was just wondering if you think we are still going to be friends when we are older?" </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi looked at her in shock, eyes wide, "Of course we are still going to be friends! Why wouldn't we be?!" </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Crystal's eyes drifted down, "I don't know...I guess I just wonder because we are so different and...and…" She couldn't finish her sentence as she burst into tears.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi jumped up quickly and ran to her side, wiping away her tears, "Don't cry! My mom says that big girls our age shouldn't cry so much! It's okay, I'm here!" </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her friend sniffled in reply, "S-sorry...I didn't mean to….I just worry so much...Everyone in school loves you so much but people just call me weird...I sometimes wonder if one day you'll realise what a loser I am and just leave me…"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi shook her head furiously, "I don't care about anyone else! I only care about you! You're my best friend! I'll never leave you!"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Y-you don't know that" Crystal mumbled.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She replied by wrapping her friend in a tight hug before grabbing her hand and pulling her off the swing and across the park.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Crystal stumbled beside her, baffled, "What are you doing?" </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I'm going to prove to you that I'll never leave you!" Gigi replied with a smile.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rooting around in the grass, Gigi found a broken piece of a glass bottle, careful not to cut her fingers on the sharp edges. She pulled Crystal along to the oak tree and then began carving slowly, trying to perfect the letters despite her less than ideal tool. When she finished she turned to Crystal with a proud flourish.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"G plus C?" Crystal questioned.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Yep!" Gigi replied with a proud grin, "It stands for Gigi and Crystal! It's proof that our friendship will be forever, just like our carving on this tree!" </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Crystal giggled, "You're so silly." Despite her words she edged closer and took the shard of glass from Gigi, adding a wonky heart around their names. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She turned and smiled at Gigi, "Friends forever?" </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi felt her heart flutter and she nodded quickly, "Friends forever."</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi scoffed at the memory and kicked a pebble on the ground, "Friends forever my ass."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gritted her teeth and balled her fists until the palms of her hands began to sting. The sadness she had felt before had been replaced entirely with rage as she let out a frustrated scream, collapsing to the grass and pounding the ground with her fists.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You said we were forever! You promised! You promised me you would never leave me! You lied to me and left me for some fucking library assistant! You lied to me!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi felt the tears return again as she took out her anger on the ground below.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knew full well that her anger wasn't fair, she knew that her reaction was unjustified. She was furious and she wasn't even sure where the anger was directed at anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Some of the anger bounced inwards, she was frustrated at her inability to deal with her emotions constructively, she was frustrated at herself for never being honest, but mainly she was frustrated at the fact she was never enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe if she had just allowed herself to open up completely to Crystal, maybe if she wasn't so scared of opening up, maybe if she listened for the first time in her life and never went in that van.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She felt her heart swell like it was about to burst, a grip tightening around her lungs painfully</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth was she was scared. Scared of loving Crystal, scared of being honest, scared of giving her the power to be able to break her into a million pieces.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi collapsed down to the grass, spread out as she stared at the sky, the tears still streaming down her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I love you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turned her head and saw a piece of a broken glass bottle next to her, the sunlight reflecting off it directly into her eyes. She winced and sat up slightly, picking up the glass shard. She stared at it and began to giggle under her breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feeling a new surge of energy, she jumped up and ran back to the tree, quickly finding the initials she had carved all those years ago. Using the glass shard she began to recarve the faded letters, her shaky hands making the task much harder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After finishing, Gigi took a step back to admire her work. She clutched tightly to the glass shard causing her hand to bleed slightly but she didn't care.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Years ago she made a promise. She promised that she would never leave Crystal. She promised that they were forever, no matter what. The carving was proof of that promise. Gigi was willing to do anything to keep her word and keep Crystal by her side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So if that meant she had to take care of some library assistant then so be it. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOWOWOWOWO THE GIGI POV IS FINALLY HERE WOOOO!!! this chapter was so much fun to write omg!!!!!! it was fun to look at things through gigis perspective and also the childhood flashbacks were rlly fun!!! the favourite parts of writing this fic is being able to deviate a little from the films plot and go with what i like tbh!!! i hope u guys enjoy it too!!</p><p>sorry for the long wait between updates life is so crazy but thank u all for ur feedback and support!!! it inspires me to keep going with this self indulgent fic xcftyvghubinj</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. So close yet so far</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Who's Jackie?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal screamed, turning around quickly, arms held out in a defensive position. She relaxed seeing it was just Gigi sitting on her bed, a blank expression on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You need to stop doing that!" She said, panting, "Can't you just knock at my door like a normal person?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi ignored her and repeated herself, "Who's Jackie?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Are you serious?" Crystal questioned, "You broke into my room in the middle of the night to ask me that!?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're avoiding the question."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal groaned in frustration, "I'm not avoiding anything Gigi! I think it's pretty valid to ask someone why they broke into their room!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Tell me who Jackie is."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not until you tell me why you snuck into my room!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi pouted, "I always come to your room this way."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, sure," Crystal rolled her eyes, "but normally you would at least knock first."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry." Gigi replied, not looking apologetic at all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Deciding there was no point arguing, Crystal sighed and took a good look at her best friend. Gigi's dark hair was flowing past her shoulders, framing her face like a halo. She was wearing a vest top and shorts that were way too small to be even considered shorts at that point. They looked more like glorified underwear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Realisation hit Crystal like a truck, "Wait? Did you come here dressed just in that?! Jesus christ Geege! You're probably freezing!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She ran across the room and grabbed a patchwork blanket, quickly making her way back to Gigi and wrapping her friend in the blanket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi rolled her eyes, "You worry too much, I'm fine."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's the middle of December! I'm surprised you didn't freeze to death or get pneumonia!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The brunette chuckled and pointed to her own heart, "Um, Crys? Technically already dead, remember? I survived being stabbed, I'm pretty sure it would take more than a little chill to take me down."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Whatever....I still worry, you know?" Crystal muttered under her breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi's eyes softened and she began to huddle herself into the blanket. Her expression changed as recognition hit her and she looked at the blanket with a soft smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Crys? Isn't this the blanket I made for you when we were kids?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal turned in surprise and realised that Gigi was right. The blanket currently wrapped around her best friend was the same one she had gotten for her tenth birthday from the girl. Gigi had spent months on that blanket, begging and pleading her mother for leftover material and fabric. It was a colourful mess considering the fact it was made up of scraps of material but Crystal loved it nonetheless. It was chaotic, colourful and wild, everything Crystal loved. She had kept it over the years, using it for comfort whenever she felt low. Whenever Gigi went out for a hookup, Crystal would normally stay at home, wrapped in the patchwork mess as she cried herself to sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah...it is," she chuckled nervously, "I've always loved that thing."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi smiled and fiddled with the hem of the blanket, "I'm surprised you didn't throw this thing out. The needlework is so shoddy." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shrugged, "I don't care...I love it." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal moved to sit down next to her friend on the bed, Gigi shuffled closer to her, staring Crystal directly in the eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Do you ever wish we could go back?" She mumbled softly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi moved closer, their faces inches apart, "Like to when we were kids. It was so much easier back then..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She chuckled nervously, a lump in her throat, "I guess?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi's breath ghosted over Crystal's lips, "Do you remember when we used to play boyfriend-girlfriend?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nodded quickly, her words dying in her throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I miss that..." Gigi whispered breathlessly, and before Crystal could reply she found Gigi's lips on hers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The world seemed to stop as soon as Gigi kissed her, the only thought Crystal could process being the feeling of her best friend's lips on her own. Butterflies exploded in her stomach as she felt like she was floating, Gigi's lips keeping her tethered down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal let out an involuntary whimper as she felt Gigi's tongue slip into her mouth and by the smirk evident on Gigi's face she knew the girl had heard it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her hands wandered across Gigi's back and the thin material of her vest top. She desperately wanted to pull Gigi closer despite the fact it was impossible for them to be closer than they already were. She wanted Gigi. She needed Gigi. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi seemed to sense Crystal's desperation and pushed her down onto the bed, straddling her as she continued to connect her in a bruising kiss, nipping on her bottom lip occasionally. Crystal's shirt had ridden up due to the sudden movement but she didn't care.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually she pulled away, resting her forehead against Crystal's and breathing heavily. Her fingers danced meticulously across Crystal's exposed skin, causing her breath to hitch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is this okay?" Gigi whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nodded furiously but that didn't seem to be enough for Gigi, as she ran a hand down Crystal's side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I want to hear you say it." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal whimpered, "I want you...please..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi's face lit up with a devilish smirk and she began to pull down Crystal's pants, "Good girl."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She began to kiss down Crystal's neck as she discarded the girl's pants and underwear. Gigi bit down on Crystal's pulse point, her hands exploring Crystal's thighs, causing Crystal to moan loudly, her face going bright red as a result. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A small chuckle escaped the taller girl and she mumbled against Crystal's neck, "I love hearing you like this..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Geege please-" She began to protest but Gigi interrupted her with another kiss, using one hand to stroke her cheek softly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Shhh...I've got this Crys...Trust me." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi pulled away much to Crystal's disappointment and began to shuffle down the bed until she was situated in between Crystal's legs. Crystal could feel her breath against her clit almost teasingly and she shivered, her legs opening on their own accord.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're so beautiful," Gigi muttered as she began peppering Crystal's thighs with kisses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal opened her mouth to complain until she suddenly felt Gigi draw her tongue upwards in the place she wanted her most, causing her to let out an embarrassingly loud moan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck! Gigi....please...."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal tried to keep herself under control but when Gigi's tongue dipped inside her and her nose brushed lightly against her clit, Crystal couldn't help practically screaming out Gigi's name.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi giggled, the vibrations travelling through Crystal's body causing her to tremble. She grabbed a handful of Gigi's hair and began rutting against her face. Normally Crystal loved the way Gigi's hair was always styled to perfection, not a hair out of place, but right now she wanted nothing more than to mess it up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi finally began to give attention to Crystal's clit with a few well placed strokes of her tongue and Crystal's head lolled back in pleasure. When Gigi began to suck down on her clit, Crystal almost blacked out, screaming out Gigi's name. Her brain began to feel fuzzy and she knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"G-Geege...please...I..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could barely finish her sentence due to Gigi beginning to pick up her pace and for a second Crystal was sure she could see stars. It didn't take long after that for her orgasm to hit her with a jolt. Crystal's body jerked forward, her vision blurring whilst Gigi continued to fuck her with her tongue through the last waves of her climax. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feeling Crystal's legs go limp around her head, Gigi stopped and pressed a gentle kiss to Crystal's thigh before making eye contact with the girl. She gave her a soft smile as Crystal collapsed on the bed, breathless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi began tracing patterns on Crystal's thigh with her fingernails, "You okay?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm perfect," Crystal said, a blissed out expression on her face, "What about you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What do you mean?" Gigi questioned with a confused look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sat up slightly and smirked, "What I mean is...Do you want me to return the favour?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi's eyes widened in surprise, almost like she was shocked by Crystal's offer. Despite the hesitance in her eyes she nodded quickly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal pulled Gigi up from between her legs and locked her into a kiss, the taste of herself still prevalent on Gigi's lips. As she slipped her tongue into the girl's mouth she could feel Gigi buck her hips forward, desperate, hungry, for more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her hands traveled tentatively down Gigi's sides, scared that if she gripped too hard the girl in front of her would disappear. After years of imagining holding her best friend like this, the fear that this was all a cruel dream swirled in her head. Her fingers delicately played with the waistband of Gigi's shorts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is this okay?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded again and pulled away to discard her vest, throwing it without a care onto Crystal's bedroom floor. This raised an eyebrow from Crystal as she knew Gigi never liked to throw clothing haphazardly, instead always choosing to fold them neatly. This thought was quickly interrupted however by Gigi's lips on hers once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal's thigh had found its way in between Gigi's legs, soft whimpers and whines escaping the girl as she rocked backwards and forwards, desperate to relieve the growing tension in between her slender legs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was rare to see Gigi so vulnerable. Normally she liked to hold herself up with a sense of power and confidence, unwilling to display her emotions on her sleeve like Crystal. Yet with a few simple actions the girl had melted under Crystal's touch, the confident facade crumbling and cracking with every passing second. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal began to place a trail of kisses across Gigi's cheek and jaw, her teeth ghosting over the girl's neck, earning herself another whine from the brunette. She looked down and took a deep breath as she came face to face with Gigi's small but perky breasts. She had seen her best friend naked many times before but this was different, this was intimate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal loved it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her tongue darted out and licked her lips before she moved down and slowly swirled her tongue around Gigi's nipple, causing the girl to gasp and grab onto Crystal's hair, tugging hard. This spurred Crystal to carry on, moving to suck it in her mouth, one hand tracing over the other one, toying with it slowly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Crys please," Gigi begged, something she never did and Crystal felt herself tremble in response. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What's wrong Geege?" She said, pulling away, a trail of spit connecting her lips to Gigi's nipple. She knew full well what Gigi wanted but she craved to hear her say it out loud. She needed it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl whimpered, her hands tangled in Crystal's hair, "I need more...please..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smirked, "How do you want me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're so fucking difficult, you know?" Gigi huffed but didn't slow down her grinding, her shorts doing little to hide how wet she was, "I don't care...I just need you..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I need you to be specific." She whispered, knowing it was a risky move to tease Gigi but her desire to hear Gigi beg for her again overtook any rational thought in her head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The risk paid off as Gigi rolled her eyes in frustration, "Your fingers....please..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smiled smugly and nodded, dipping her fingers into Gigi's shorts and gasping when she came into contact with Gigi's wet folds. The girl hissed as she began to move her fingers up and down tantalizingly slow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"C-Crys....I swear to God if you don't hurry up I'm going to bite your fingers off."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal chuckled, "You've always been so impatient." Despite her words she complied and dipped two fingers into Gigi, thrusting slowly and rhythmically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Crystal, fuck..." Gigi bucked her hips up to meet Crystal's movements and pulled her into a deep kiss, her hands scratching at Crystal's back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Desperate to hear more of Gigi, Crystal increased her pace, using her thumb to rub slightly around her clit. Gigi gasped into Crystal's mouth at the sudden touch and her body jolted upwards.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes Crys!...like that...please..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Never in her life did Crystal think that she would have her best friend clinging to her, panting and moaning, but now she couldn't imagine doing anything else. The way Gigi would hiss out her name was music to Crystal's ears. Fuck Beethoven and Mozart and all those other old composers, the only symphony Crystal needed was Gigi's needy moans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi began peppering Crystal's neck with open mouthed kisses, stopping sometimes to gasp everytime Crystal would curl her fingers. Crystal smirked and twisted her hand, adding a third finger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi's eyes widened and rolled back as she let out a wrecked moan. Her nails dug into Crystal's back and she bit down onto Crystal's neck. Hard. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ow! Fuck!" Crystal hissed out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Quickly coming to her senses, Gigi looked up at Crystal with concern and terror in her eyes, "Oh my god, are you okay Crys?! Shit, did I hurt you?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal used her free hand to delicately touch where Gigi had bitten her. She winced as she saw a few drops of blood on her fingertips, "A little bit yeah..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm so sorry Crys! I wasn't thinking about what I was doing!" Gigi said in a panic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey, hey...Shhh," Crystal interrupted, "It's fine honestly! It doesn't hurt anymore! I was just surprised."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi looked at her unconvinced, "What do you mean it's fine?! It's bleeding! Fuck! I'm so sorry! I was too rough and now I've hurt you and-" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal cut off Gigi's panicked rambling by pulling her into another deep kiss, curling her fingers that were still deep in Gigi, causing the girl to whine softly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I said it's okay," she whispered against Gigi's lips, "Let me take care of you..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded quickly, staying silent as Crystal began to nip on her bottom lip, fingers thrusting into her at a rough pace. The girl responded by arching her back and letting out a loud moan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If she could, Crystal would have chosen to live in this moment forever. The way Gigi clung to her, nails digging desperately into Crystal's back, the way she moaned out her name like it was the only word she could remember, the way she would tighten up around Crystal's fingers every time she moved them in a certain way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was heaven to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi began to attack Crystal's neck with kisses once again, focusing her attention on the bitemarks she had left earlier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry for....hurting you..." Gigi mumbled in between moans. She kissed the bitemark once again before licking off the small amount of blood that had gathered from the wound. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal's breath hitched, "It's okay Geege...don't worry about it...just enjoy yourself."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I am." Gigi said with a smirk as she rolled her hips to match Crystal's movements.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal rolled her eyes with a chuckle and responded by increasing the pace of her fingers causing Gigi to hiss out in pleasure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Please don't stop Crys...fuck....please..." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If the way Gigi's legs were shaking and the constant filth spilling out of the girl's mouth were any inclination, Crystal could tell that Gigi was close. She curved her fingers once again and Gigi's eyes flew open, her hips bucking forward. She was a lot louder than Crystal when her orgasm hit her, moaning out her name into the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal helped her ride out her climax before taking out her fingers and placing a kiss on Gigi's nose. She desperately wanted to put her fingers in her mouth and find out exactly how her best friend tasted but she didn't in fear of freaking out Gigi.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I love you..." Gigi whispered breathlessly, closing her eyes as she collapsed back onto the bed in a post-orgasmic daze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal froze, "Wait, what?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal knew there was no way she heard her friend correctly. There was no way that Gigi Goode had just said she loved her. She must have misheard or made a mistake because she knew without a doubt Gigi didn't share her feelings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi's eyes flew open, "I...I uhh..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal edged her way closer to Gigi slowly, "Gigi...What did you just say?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An awkward silence fell between the two girls, the only sound coming from the wind chimes outside and the sound of Crystal's heart beating out of her chest. Gigi remained silent, her expression blank.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After an agonizing minute of silence Gigi jumped up from the bed and began to rummage through the mess on Crystal's floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal looked at her in confusion, "Geege what are you doing? Why won't you tell me what-" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I have to go!" Gigi blurted out quickly as she found her shirt amidst the mess and threw it on. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Go?" Crystal questioned, "Go where? It's the middle of the night!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I just need to go!" Gigi snapped, "Home, wherever! I just need to leave!" She made her way towards Crystal's window, fiddling with the lock and avoiding eye contact with the other girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal felt the anger begin to build up inside her. She couldn't deal with Gigi playing with her emotions anymore, "Leave?! Why the fuck do you need to leave?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I just do okay!" Gigi cursed under her breath as she tried to pry open the rusty lock on the window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"This is so typical of you Gigi! You can't just open up and be honest with me, can you? Do you enjoy just fucking with me or is it that demon inside you that makes you incapable of any human emotion?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth and stared at Gigi's back in horror. Gigi stopped fiddling with the lock and froze for a second, causing Crystal's heart to drop to her stomach. Eventually she spoke up in a whisper, "What did you just say?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Geege I didn't mean-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't fucking call me that." Gigi hissed, whipping around to face Crystal, "Don't you dare!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Listen Gigi please! I didn't mean it like that! I-" Crystal pleaded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Stop," Gigi interrupted, "I know <em>exactly</em> what you meant and now I know exactly how you think of me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gigi, please! You're blowing this out of proportion!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I am?!" Gigi's eyes grew dark and her fists clenched, "Well I may be a fucking monster now but at least I'm not a hypocrite." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stood up, "What's that meant to mean?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You say I can't be open or honest but you won't even tell me who the fuck Jackie is!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Jackie?!" Crystal questioned exasperated, "Why are you so obsessed with Jackie?! She's a friend of mine! She helps me with research in the library!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi stared at Crystal intently, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. The anger in Crystal's body quickly disappeared and she moved closer to comfort her friend and wipe away her tears but was interrupted by Gigi's hand slapping her away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't." She hissed, "If you can't tell me the truth then don't even bother."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Crystal could even reply, Gigi stormed back towards the window, opening it with brute force and jumping out without a second glance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal ran towards the window, calling out Gigi's name in panic but when she got there the girl had already disappeared, leaving Crystal alone once again.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>IM SO NERVOUS TO POST THIS CHAPTER BCS IVE NEVER WRITTEN SMUT BEFORE SO YAAAAY???? honestly i was so tempted to just avoid writing the smut and just leave it out but my friends were so encouraging and i thought why not!!! this fic is so self indulgent anyways so why not cfyvghubnj</p><p>I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter I worked so hard on it due to my shitty internet rn and also the nerves of writing smut for the first time. please comment what u thought it rlly means so much to me and helps keep me going!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Pool</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Gigi hadn’t spoken to Crystal since that night in her room and it hurt more than anything. It wasn’t like Crystal hadn’t tried her best to talk to the girl but Gigi was determined to ignore Crystal no matter what.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The most she would see of her best friend was a faint glimpse of her dark hair in the halls of school. She mainly spent her time with Jaida and Widow now, flipping her hair and laughing with them by the lockers, sometimes shooting Crystal an icy glare everytime they made eye contact. Crystal had tried texting and calling her but that didn’t work, her phone always being sent straight to voicemail. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth was she was worried and scared. Not only because Gigi wasn’t talking to her but also because of the way she was looking. Gigi was beginning to look more haggard and worn out as the weeks went on and Crystal knew that could only mean one thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi was becoming hungry again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before she knew it, December had almost come to a close and around Devil’s Kettle teenagers were excitedly getting ready for the Winter Ball. Crystal wished she could be as excited as everyone else, but the dance only served as a grim reminder that it had been nearly a month since she had spoken to her best friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alone in her bedroom, Crystal stared at herself in her mirror. She was wearing a satin blue suit with a white ascot. She had reluctantly allowed her mother to do her hair, who somehow managed to tame her wild locks into a bun. Her face was plastered with her signature make up, big eyeliner and glitter coating her eyelids. She decided to go with a purple lipstick for the night, thinking that it would go better with her outfit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sighed as she adjusted her ascot and buttoned up her suit. Gigi would have loved this outfit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal allowed herself to fleetingly imagine what Gigi was going to wear tonight. Gigi loved any chance to dress up and had probably gone all out on an outfit for the dance. It would most definitely be something that she had made herself. Crystal silently hoped she would be dressed in blue so she could pretend they were matching, even if Gigi would be ignoring her the whole night. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a quick glance at the clock, Crystal headed down the stairs. Jackie said she would meet her outside the school so they could go in together so she didn’t want to be late and leave the girl in the cold. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She rushed past the kitchen, before doubling back to notice something left on the dinner table by her mother. It was a small can of pepper spray and a note telling her to stay safe. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Her mother had probably heard the stories of how the police found Aiden’s body. Rumours had been going around that his body looked like lasagna with teeth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite her reluctance, Crystal tucked the aerosol can into the interior of her jacket. Better safe than sorry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dance had started half an hour ago and there was still no sign of Jackie. Crystal had been standing outside the doors, leaning by a wall as she watched hoards of teenagers enter the building. The cold winter air was licking at her face and crept under her clothes, spreading across her skin until she let out an involuntary shiver. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe Jackie already went inside because it’s so cold, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she thought to herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Defeated by the chill, Crystal made her way inside, sending a quick text to Jackie explaining where she was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The gymnasium of the school had been completely transformed into a winter wonderland. Decorations resembling snowflakes were strung across the room and fake snow was scattered across the floor. Balloons and streamers littered the gymnasium in cool blues and whites, and the lights were dimmed to emphasise the fairy lights that twinkled across the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doing a quick survey of the room, Crystal couldn’t see any sign of Jackie and made her way to the punch table in defeat. As she sipped Hawaiian punch that had definitely been spiked already, she assessed the crowd of her peers as they danced and laughed. She found herself hoping to catch a glimpse of Gigi but to her disappointment she couldn’t see her anywhere. She spotted Jaida and Widow easily. They were dancing in the middle of the room with some footballers Crystal couldn’t remember the name of. She found it odd Gigi wasn’t with them but shrugged it off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The loud music in the room thundered in Crystal’s ears, causing her skin to itch uncomfortably. The bass thumped in time to her heartbeat and she took a deep breath. Students danced around her, getting way too close and she began to feel sticky from sweat. There was a sharp feedback noise from the stage and Crystal jumped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The principal stood on the stage, tapping on the microphone. He cleared his throat and smiled, “Can I have your attention please? We have a real special treat for you tonight!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal ignored the announcement, doing a quick scan for Jackie or Gigi. There was still no sign of either of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have some very special guests tonight!” said their principal, “They were kind enough to take a break from their sold-out tour to come play at our dance tonight! For free!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The crowd started to cheer, mumbling excitedly to each other. Crystal grimaced and took a chug from her punch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Boys and girls, please welcome...Jan’s Jukebox!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stood rooted to the spot as the rest of the student body clamoured to get closer to the front of the stage, screaming in excitement. She glared at the girls on the stage, wearing much more elaborate costumes than the first time they played in Devil’s Kettle. Her attention was mainly on the lead singer, who stood with a wide grin in the middle of the stage. Her purple hair bounced around as she waved excitedly to the crowd. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a brief second she made eye contact with Crystal and recognition flooded her face. Jan smirked at her and then winked. Crystal felt her whole body heat up in rage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan introduced the band and then began to sing their signature song. As the crowd sang along, Crystal felt herself wanting to tear out her eardrums. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She watched them intently, a scowl on her face when suddenly she felt what was like a pair of phantom lips against her own. Her eyes widened in surprise and she shakily lifted a finger to touch them. If she didn’t know any better she would have said it felt exactly how Gigi’s lips felt against hers when they were in her room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In a brief flash, Crystal could see Gigi in front of her in a blue dress and a devilish smirk on her face. Then she heard a whisper in her ear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Why don’t you come with me Jackie? I know somewhere we can go to be...alone…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal dropped her cup of Hawaiian punch, the juice pooling out on the floor like blood. Splashes of the punch landed on her baby blue trousers, staining the material but Crystal didn’t notice. She raced towards the door, crushing the plastic cup under her feet as she ran. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How could I be so fucking stupid?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Instinctively, Crystal ran towards the park, knowing that Jackie mentioned she liked to use it as a shortcut to the school. She picked up her pace, the soles of her dress shoes tracking mud. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How did I not realise sooner?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal passed the bench where she found out the news about the first murder. Daya’s arms around her and Daegen’s nervous laughter feeling like a distant memory. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What if I’m too late?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stopped briefly, a shiny object in the grass distracting her for a second. Crystal panted heavily and made her way slowly towards the object. She felt her heart drop to her stomach when she realised what she had found. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie’s glasses were laying on the ground, a crack in one of the lenses. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal spun around, trying to figure out where the fuck Gigi would have taken Jackie. She stopped, her head dizzy, when she heard a scream from the distance. It was coming from the old abandoned swimming pool near the park that had been closed down due to a lack of proper health and safety regulations.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Heart beating out of her chest, she ran towards the abandoned building, hopping over the chain link fence. Her blazer ripped slightly as it caught on the wire. Crystal remembered coming to this pool with Gigi when they were kids and it was still open. Gigi would spend most of the time afraid to go into the water, in fear of getting her hair wet. Crystal would tease her and eventually splash her, causing Gigi to jump into the pool to get her revenge. They would have competitions to see who could swim the furthest or who could hold their breath the longest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pool now looked nothing like her childhood. It was dark and grimy, a green tinge lighting up the room. The pool was now filled with rainwater and leaves, and garbage covered the room. The walls had been graffitied, most likely done by some bored teenagers trying to be edgy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stumbled onto the pool deck and spotted them right away. Gigi and Jackie were waist deep in the murky water of the pool. Gigi’s jaw was unhinged on Jackie’s jugular, teeth sunken deep into her neck. After hearing Crystal tumble in, Gigi snapped her head to face the girl, her eyes completely white. Her stare fixated on Crystal as Jackie cried out in pain, blood gushing out of her neck. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noticing Crystal, Jackie’s eyes lit up in relief and she cried out for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Crystal jumped into action, leaping into the pool. She swam towards them, eyes focused on Gigi. The girl in front of her looked nothing like her best friend. Her eyes were emotionless and her expression was cold. Her jaw looked like it had detached from the rest of her face, showcasing her sharp blood-stained teeth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She made her way towards the girls and kicked at Gigi’s shins under the water, enough of a distraction to cause Gigi to lose her vice grip on Jackie. Crystal pulled Gigi away from the girl and dunked her head under the water, giving Jackie enough time to weakly swim away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi rose back up, spitting up water, unaffected. She growled and lunged at Crystal, no semblance of her human self visible. Frantically, Crystal grabbed the pepper spray can she had kept in her jacket pocket and without warning, sprayed Gigi directly in the eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl screamed and rubbed her eyes furiously, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“What the fuck!?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal ignored her best friend’s cries of pain and grabbed Jackie’s limp body, pulling her to the side of the pool, a trail of Jackie’s blood floating behind them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another scream came from Gigi and Crystal turned to look. Gigi opened her eyes, no longer white but their normal striking blue, just a little more bloodshot. She clenched her fists and then shot up, levitating above the water. Water dripped from her dark blue dress, which had become stained with green from the pool water. Blood dribbled from her lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-what? She can fly?!” Jackie choked out, wincing with every word. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal rolled her eyes, as she used all her strength to climb up the rungs of the pool ladder, hauling Jackie with her, “She’s just hovering, it’s not that impressive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“God, do you have to undermine everything I do?” Gigi spat out, still floating above them."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to end this Gigi!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi snorted, wiping some of Jackie's blood off her mouth, "Crystal. You can't even finish </span>
  <em>
    <span>gym class.</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stood up on shaky legs, careful not to slip on the pool deck, “What’s wrong with you?! You are such a jerk!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow, nice insult. Where did you get that one?” Gigi scoffed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, you listen to me! You are a jerk!” Crystal yelled, her fists clenched in rage, “You never ever once have considered how I feel! How do you think I feel giving you rides all the time so you can hook up with some stranger!? How do you think I feel when I give up all my plans just to please </span>
  <em>
    <span>you! </span>
  </em>
  <span>How do you think I feel when you just start kissing me out of nowhere with no explanation!? How do you think I feel when you ignore me for fucking weeks!? Do you just enjoy playing with my feelings?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi’s face grimaced, her body lowering down to the pool deck, “And now I’m eating your girlfriend. At least I’m consistent.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!” She sputtered out in shock, “Girlfriend?! I told you before that Jackie is just my friend! In fact she was helping me do research so I could figure out how to help </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Not that you ever gave a shit!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re a liar!” Gigi growled, taking a step closer to Crystal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal ignored her, “What happened to just eating boys, huh? Why did you need her?! Are you just so insecure that you couldn’t handle the idea of me having friends that aren’t you!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi sputtered out a laugh, her voice wavering, “Me? Insecure? That’s a joke!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it?” Crystal questioned, “Because if you really were as confident as you make out to be then you would show everyone the Gigi you only show me! Not Gigi the cheerleader or Gigi the popular girl! You would show the Gigi who likes to watch old movies and whose dream is to design her own vintage clothing line! You would show the Gigi who snorts at stupid jokes and secretly loves puns! You would show the Gigi who actually doesn’t give a </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span> about boys and spends her weekends kissing girls in the backseat of her mom’s car! You’ve never been confident Gigi...You’re just a really good actress.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi’s hands trembled at her side, tears pooling in her eyes, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Stop acting like you are so perfect! Just because I don’t go out doing whatever the hell I want, doesn’t mean I’m faking everything! Some of us have reputations and images to uphold! You would never understand that!? You will never understand what I go through!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal scoffed, “And what do you go through that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad? Is choosing an outfit everyday really that difficult for you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You lied to me!” Gigi screamed, her fists balled up, “You said we were forever! You promised me! You left me! You left me for </span>
  <em>
    <span>her,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she gestured at Jackie, “Do you know how hard it has been to get over you!? Even before all this I tried so fucking hard! I would sleep with anyone just to try and not think of you for </span>
  <em>
    <span>one fucking second! </span>
  </em>
  <span>But then that band ruined my life and turned me into </span>
  <em>
    <span>this! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I was never good enough for you but even more so now! How could you ever want a monster in your life?! I ignored you so I could finally move on! But time went on and I got hungrier and </span>
  <em>
    <span>hungrier, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and as I got hungrier my feelings got stronger. I couldn’t deal with it anymore! The thought of you and </span>
  <em>
    <span>her, </span>
  </em>
  <span>it made me so angry!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal narrowed her eyes, “What do you mean get over me? What are you talking about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl simply threw her head back and laughed, tears strolling down her cheeks, “I thought I made it obvious?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before she could reply, Crystal was interrupted by Jackie coughing hoarsely. Suddenly remembering the other girl, she turned her attention to Jackie, helping the girl stand up slowly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh fuck! Jackie! We need to get you help!” Crystal said, trying to put pressure on the wound, the warm blood soaking her fingers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Using her jacket as a bandage, she wrapped up Jackie’s wound to the best of her abilities. She began looking across the room desperately for her phone to be able to call an ambulance, only to see it floating in the murky water of the pool. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi’s face grew dark watching Crystal ignore her to tend to Jackie. She shook in rage, inching towards them, “You promised we were forever Crys...</span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re a liar.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s eyes widened, “I didn’t lie to you! You haven’t lost me! Why won’t you listen to me?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi ignored Crystal and turned her attention to the bleeding girl and growled, “This is all your fault Jackie Cox...You did this...and now...I am going to eat your soul...and </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit it out!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In a rapid movement, Gigi grabbed a hand-held pool skimmer, using it like a spear, and hurtled forward towards Jackie, screaming in rage. Her eyes were wild and it was obvious to Crystal that the girl was no longer thinking straight, a mixture of her hunger and the demon possessing her taking over. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Without a second thought, Crystal jumped in front of Jackie and felt the wind being knocked out of her chest, a sharp pain ringing through her stomach. The world stopped and suddenly everything was quiet, her vision growing dizzy. She lifted up at her hands and was puzzled to see them trembling and covered in blood. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t until she looked down that she had realised she had been impaled in the gut by the handle of the pool skimmer. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>SOOOO</p><p>: )</p><p>i dont know what to say except we r gettin close to the end of the fic! omg!!!! this is so wild! 2 more chapters after this! i will say if ur curious to how this is gonna go then some big hints r in chapter 9 and also the last chapter : ))))</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Did you really just quote Monty Python at me as you're dying?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Gigi’s eyes grew wide and her entire face went pale white, as she looked slowly at the pool skimmer that was currently piercing her best friend’s stomach. Her hands trembled as she slowly let go of the make-shift weapon. The panic set in and she clambered towards Crystal, reaching out towards the girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C-Crys...Oh my god! I...I...I didn’t mean to...I swear I didn’t mean to!” Tears began to stream down her cheeks, “W-we have to get you help...I...I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal coughed out in pain, a weak smile on her face, “Don’t worry about it...Tis only a flesh wound…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now’s not the time to joke around!” Gigi cried out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She held Crystal in her arms and the girl collapsed immediately into them, breathing heavily. Jackie, who had been pushed to the ground, slowly crawled her way to the girls to the best of her abilities. She looked over Crystal’s wound and grimaced.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know first aid but this seems a bit out of my level of expertise,” she continued to observe the injury, “However, I don’t need to be an expert to say that this doesn’t look good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi whipped her head towards the other girl and snapped, “Thanks for that observation Captain Obvious! Got anything else to add!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-hey...hey,” Crystal turned Gigi’s head back towards her and stroked her cheek, “Don’t yell at her, she’s trying her best.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal looked deep into Gigi’s eyes, trying her best to comfort the girl despite the immense pain. The girl’s blue eyes continued to water and she let out a raw sob, shaking horribly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I d-didn’t mean to hurt you Crys...Y-you have to know that! I would never try to hurt you! I...I swear!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yet you have no problem trying to kill me…” Jackie muttered under her breath, out of earshot of the other girls. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smiled softly, “I know you would never try and hurt me...I think if you wanted to kill me you would have done so months ago…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi laughed in between her cries and pulled Crystal closer, “I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to kill you...You’re my world Crys…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She began to try putting pressure on Crystal’s wound but frowned as the pool skimmer still penetrating her friend was in the way, “I think...I think I’m going to have to pull it out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal winced as Jackie began to protest, “No, no, no! You should never pull the weapon out of the wound until medical assistance has arrived! That’s first aid 101!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure, but normally they are talking about a knife, not a huge ass fucking stick!” Gigi retaliated, “How do you expect us to even get her to a hospital or anywhere like this!?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie tried her best to reply but coughed out in pain, her body growing weak due to her own injuries. She collapsed to the ground, staring intently at Gigi with a glare. She raised her hand and held onto her neck, the blood soaking through Crystal’s jacket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi turned to Crystal, a soft expression on her face and stroked her cheek, “Crys...This is going to hurt, okay? J-just...try and stay brave…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nodding in reply, Crystal scrunched her eyes tightly, bracing herself. Gigi kissed her softly on the forehead and took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking hands. She sat up straight and placed her hands on the skimmer, holding on tightly. Her hands began to stain with Crystal’s blood as she slowly excavated her friend from the skimmer. Crystal bit down hard on her lip, trying to hold back cries of pain. After a few excruciating seconds, Gigi had managed to remove the pool skimmer and threw it to the side, quickly ripping off the bottom of her dress to use as a bandage for the gaping hole in Crystal’s body. However, as she turned back to Crystal’s wound she gasped in surprise and dropped the fabric. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-what is it?” Crystal asked but was only answered with Gigi’s shaky finger pointing at her injury. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Looking down, Crystal’s mouth dropped open as she saw the wound slowly begin to heal itself. What once was a hole in her stomach, had closed over itself and was replaced with smoothed out skin. The only sign that she had been hurt was the rip in her shirt and the blood stains covering it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gigi whispered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s mind began racing, trying to understand what the hell had just happened. She was no doctor but she was pretty certain that wounds didn’t just heal up like that. The only time she had seen something like that was when Gigi stabbed herself in the arm to prove her new powers. It then dawned on Crystal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Hey Crystal, this section mentions that if a person is bitten by a succubus and it is non-fatal that can lead to that person gaining some of their powers. Would that be useful for your project?"</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her hand slowly reached up to touch the bruise that had been left on her neck. The bruise she had gotten when Gigi had bitten her when they had slept together. </span>
  <em>
    <span>A non-fatal bite. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit...Holy shit…” Crystal began to mumble as she sat up quickly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie had been watching in silence but her eyes were wide open. It seemed like she had the exact same thought as Crystal and pointed weakly towards her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“D-did....did Gigi </span>
  <em>
    <span>bite you?!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>She spoke out hoarsely, spitting out blood as she spoke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nodded and tried to hide her red face, “It’s a long story…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi interrupted with a loud cough, “What the fuck are you two talking about? What does me biting Crystal have to do with anything?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember how I said Jackie and I were doing research?” Crystal asked and Gigi nodded, “Well, when we were reading this book mentioned how if you are bitten by a succubus and you don’t die, you inherit some of their powers…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you saying that I accidently turned you into whatever I am?” Gigi’s face went pale with worry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Crystal answered honestly, “but either way, there is no doubt it has done something to me.” She gestured towards where she had been stabbed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi began to breathe heavily, “What the fuck do we do now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal turned her attention to Jackie, who was now splayed out on the ground, blood surrounding her. She looked like she was on the brink of death, her eyes fluttering open and closed sporadically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think the first thing we need to do is get Jackie some help. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Soon. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I don’t think she will survive if we leave it any longer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can’t do that!” Gigi protested, “If we do there’s no way that they won’t find out about me! They’ll lock me up...or...or...experiment on me and try to figure out what the fuck I am!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can’t just leave her here!” Crystal pleaded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi’s eyebrows furrowed, “Then what do you suggest we do?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence overcame the room as Crystal began to think. What the fuck did she do now? If she just left Jackie, there was no doubt that the girl would die. However, if she got her help, then what would happen if Jackie told anyone? Or if the police questioned what happened? They would take Gigi away and lock her up, and despite everything Crystal couldn’t bear the thought of her best friend being taken away from her. Not to mention, they still didn’t know what the bite would mean for Crystal herself. Would she also need to eat people just like Gigi? There were so many questions and not enough time to answer them all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s run away…” Crystal said in a whisper. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Gigi replied, unsure if she had heard her correctly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s run away,” She repeated, “You and me....We can take my dad’s car and just get the fuck out of here. We call an ambulance for Jackie and then just run away. That way Jackie can get the help she needs and we don’t need to worry about getting caught.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s ridiculous!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it? What other option do we have!?” Crystal sighed, “How long did you honestly think you would be able to keep this up before you eventually got caught? It’s a small town Geege! Not to mention we have no idea what this bite business means for me! What if I need to eat people too? What then? We are running out of time!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what to do…” Gigi said quietly, trembling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal took ahold of her friend’s hands and squeezed them tightly, “I refuse to let Jackie die Geege....but I also refuse to let you go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Looking down at their entwined hands, Gigi nodded slowly, squeezing Crystal’s hand back tightly, “Okay...Okay...Let’s do it…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two began to quickly come up with a plan together. Gigi picked up Jackie’s body which was still phasing in and out of consciousness, as Crystal began searching for Jackie’s phone. She was relieved to see it discarded on the pool deck. Jackie’s mom didn’t allow her to have a smartphone so she still owned a flip phone, which meant it hadn’t broken in the earlier scuffle. The two girls took her body outside and phoned an ambulance leaving an anonymous tip. Once they had finished they ran away from the scene to Crystal’s house. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took them about half an hour to grab everything they could from both of their houses that they thought they would need and packed it into the car. Crystal wished that they had more time so she could say goodbye properly to her family, Daegen, Daya and Lux but she knew that they had to leave soon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they drove out of Devil’s Kettle, a bittersweet feeling filled the air. All of her life Crystal had dreamed about leaving the small town to go and do big things, however she never imagined she would be leaving like this. It hurt to see everything she knew begin to fade away, but when she looked across at her best friend, head leaning against the window of the car, she knew she had made the right decision. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you think Jackie will be alright?” Crystal asked as she drove. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi shrugged, “I don’t know...I mean you did the best that you could…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal nodded as Gigi shuffled uncomfortably, “Crys? I know this is probably bad timing after everything but...did you have feelings for Jackie? Romantic feelings?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No...I didn’t.” Crystal said matter of factly, “I never did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not even a little bit?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The car became silent again, the only sound coming from the low rumble of the engine. After a few minutes Gigi spoke up again, “I’m sorry...for getting jealous of her...and trying to kill and eat her…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geege...that wasn’t you...It was that demon inside you...I can’t blame you…” Crystal said with a sympathetic smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The jealousy was me though,” Gigi grimaced, “I can confirm without a doubt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal sighed and pulled the car over on the side of the road. They were on the backroads of the town near the forest, so Crystal didn’t have to worry about anyone spotting them. As she stopped the car she turned to Gigi. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can we talk about that then?” She asked, “Why were you so jealous? You never acted like that with Daegen or Daya or Lux? Why Jackie?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi shuffled uncomfortably, “I never had to worry about them having romantic feelings for you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal blinked in response, “I… don’t understand.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s no way you are this dense Crys,” She rolled her eyes, “Have I not made it obvious by now? I kissed you, I slept with you...fucking hell I even confessed to you and then ran away!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal held her breath, scared to allow herself to hope for what Gigi was implying. She had spent so many years coming to terms with the fact she would never have Gigi, so the idea that it could actually be a possibility was too much for her to handle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think...I think I need you to say it Geege...please…” She whispered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi gulped and sat up straight, “Crystal...I’m...I’m in love with you...I think I have ever since we first met at the sandbox, I just didn’t know it at the time...I love the way you get excited about even the most smallest things. I love the fact that you don’t care what anyone thinks about you! I love the way you get so passionate about your art! I love the way that you cannot sing in tune to save your life, but that doesn’t stop you from screaming along to songs in the car! I love the way your eyes light up when you smile! I love the way you treat me like a normal person...not some cheerleader or popular girl...but me. I love you Crystal…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi sniffed as tears began to roll down her eyes, “Falling in love with you was easy...It was admitting to myself that I did that was hard...I don’t expect you to feel the same way and I don’t blame you, I just....I had to be honest with you...I don’t want to lie anymore.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal stared at Gigi in shock, processing everything she had just said. She sat in silence for a couple of minutes as Gigi tried to hold back her tears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After five minutes, Crystal finally spoke up, “Do you remember when I fell off my bike when we were eleven?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unable to speak, Gigi nodded slowly as she sniffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I fell off my bike trying to do some stupid stunt I saw on TV and you told me it was a bad idea and I did it anyway,” Crystal continued, “I fell off and scraped my knee on the sidewalk and cried for hours. I expected you to tell me off or say ‘I told you so’ but you didn’t....instead you gave me a hug and patched me up with a bandaid you kept in your bag…and when I asked why you had a bandaid you said you kept it because I've always been clumsy and you were worried about me...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you telling me this?” Gigi whimpered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because that was the moment I realised I was in love with you.” Crystal stated, making direct eye contact with Gigi, “And it never stopped…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi froze and then began wiping away her tears, “If you are just trying to make me feel better then there’s no point oka-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl was quickly interrupted by Crystal leaning across towards her and pulling her into a kiss. The kiss was nothing like the ones they had shared before, it was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words could never be.They wrapped their arms around each other as they pulled each other closer, awkwardly angling their bodies to face each other in the cramped car. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal’s heart fluttered. The kiss was different than before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a promise. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>im so sorry for how bad this chapter is my brain is barely workin i think ctfyvguhi</p><p>ANYWAYS UR REACTIONS LAST CHAPTER WERE WOW!!!!!!! just so much excitement and love it rlly made me so thankful for everyone reading this fic and ur comments mean the world to me so thank u!!!!!</p><p>also of course i wasnt going to kill crystal off im not a monster</p><p>one more chapter left guys!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Back to the present</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>PRESENT DAY:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What happened to the lamp?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi was standing at the door of the motel room, staring at the pieces of the broken lamp on the ground. She was holding a plastic bag in her hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It broke."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi rolled her eyes, making her way to the bed and planting herself next to Crystal, "I can see that idiot. How'd it break?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Threw the remote at it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wow. You really are a bundle of joy tonight, aren't you babe?" Gigi scoffed, planting a kiss on Crystal's forehead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal grumbled as she snuggled up to Gigi, resting her head on the girl's shoulder, "Couldn't sleep. You took too long. Where were you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"The vending machine was broken so I had to walk to the nearest store. Which took about half an hour because this place is an utter shithole."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Tell me about it," Crystal groaned, "These bed sheets </span>
  <em>
    <span>suck </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the TV only has like three channels!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is that why you threw the remote?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That was part of it, sure." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi rolled her eyes "Whatever. I managed to get you that soda you like by the way." She passed Crystal a cold can from the plastic bag. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smiled in gratitude and opened it with a hiss. She took a long sip and sighed happily, "You are forgiven for taking so long now."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thanks," Gigi scoffed, taking out a packet of cigarettes from the bag and lighting one up, taking a long drag. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't think you're allowed to smoke in here Geege."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Do you really think anyone is going to care? I checked earlier, there's no smoke alarms and I'm pretty sure the only staff at this place is that half-asleep receptionist."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't know if I should be glad or concerned that there are no smoke alarms."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Let's take it as a blessing." Gigi smirked, "We survived one fire, what makes you think we wouldn't be able to survive another?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't joke about that." Crystal furrowed her eyebrows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You really are in a bad mood tonight, huh?" Gigi leaned in and gave Crystal a soft kiss, stroking her cheek, "What's up Crys? You can talk to me." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal's expression softened and she leaned into the kiss, letting out a sigh, "It's nothing...I couldn't sleep and tried watching TV and then that </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking </span>
  </em>
  <span>song started playing and I couldn't handle it..." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi nodded as her eyes drifted to the remains of the lamp on the ground. She put out her cigarette and pulled Crystal in closer, hugging her tightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We could have had a normal life Geege," Crystal whispered with a sniff, "We could have gone on dates to the diner holding hands under the table. We could have gone to prom together, gone to college together! But that band ruined everything and that song is just a constant reminder of everything we lost." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey now," Gigi said, wiping a tear off Crystal's cheek, "We haven't lost everything. We still have each other."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal smiled weakly and leaned towards the other girl, bringing their lips together. Gigi’s lips were chapped and she tasted like nicotine, but Crystal didn’t care. All she could bring herself to care about was the way the warmth of Gigi’s lips rushed to every corner of her body. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When did you become so sappy?” Crystal mumurmed against the brunette’s lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dunno,” Gigi chuckled, “I’m full of surprises.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she looked at her girlfriend, Crystal felt all the tension melt from her body. Meeting Gigi all those years ago was fate. Deciding to go up to the lonely looking girl and become her friend was a choice, but falling in love with her was inevitable. No matter what, Crystal would always choose Gigi. Having a normal life, going to college, getting a pet cat, none of that mattered as long as she still had Gigi in her life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi pulled away from the kiss and poked Crystal on her nose, “Speaking of surprises, I have one for you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crystal raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The brunette’s eyes grew dark and she grinned devilishly, “Let’s just I may have gotten some intel on where our </span>
  <em>
    <span>favourite </span>
  </em>
  <span>band is currently staying…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Another sold out concert ladies! Congratulations to us!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brita and Nicky cheered out loudly as Jan stood in front of them, a glass of champagne in her hands. They were currently residing in their hotel room, getting ready to go out and party in celebration of another successful concert. Their tour had been a resounding success and it seemed that everybody in the world now knew who Jan’s Jukebox were. Their songs were constantly on the radio and they were always being asked to go on some interview or press related event. They couldn’t walk anywhere without bumping into a fan begging for photos or autographs.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Life had been great for the band, but all they wanted to do now was celebrate and get drunk together in peace. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t forget to thank the person who </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> made this a reality!” Brita barked out with a loud laugh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course!” Jan grinned, “How could I forget...uhhh...shit...what was her name again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t it Jennifer or something?” Nicky piped up before taking a large swig of her drink. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brita rolled her eyes, “Her name wasn’t Jennifer! I’m pretty sure it began with a ‘G’ or something like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Georgina?” Nicky offered, “Wait no, Grace? No...Jenny?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In what world does Jenny begin with ‘G’, you dumb French bitch.” Brita took a pillow and threw it at the guitarist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky screeched and retaliated by throwing another pillow at Brita, almost knocking down the bottle of champagne. Jan quickly stood in between the two girls with a wide grin, “Hey now! Stop fighting dolls! It doesn’t matter what her name was! All that matters is that she got us everything we ever wanted!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Holding out her glass, Jan cheered for them and the other girls quickly joined in, clinking their glasses together in celebration. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They continued to laugh together and chatter until they were suddenly interrupted by a loud banging on their hotel door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who the fuck is that?” Nicky questioned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brita sat up in delight and clapped her hands together, “Oh! I ordered room service earlier, it must be them!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan placed her glass on a table and stood up, wiping down her dress, “You guys carry on, I’ll go answer it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She began to walk to the door as Nicky grumbled to Brita that she hoped that she had ordered her some fries or she would kill her. The knocking didn’t stop as she moved closer to the door, in fact it grew louder and more urgent with every passing second. She raised an eyebrow in confusion but shrugged it off, the hotel staff must just be really impatient here. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay!” She said as she opened the door, “I’m here! Jeez, the food won’t get that col-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jan felt the wind being knocked out of her lungs as she stared at who was at the door, her mouth dropping open. She could only stand in horror and stare, her face turning a ghostly white. She stood frozen for a couple of minutes before Brita and Nicky made their way towards her in confusion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Girl, what is taking so long I am starving!” Brita complained before gasping and dropping her glass on the ground, shattering everywhere. The champagne pooled at her feet, soaking into the carpet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on her face was the very girl they had been talking about just a couple of minutes ago. The girl they had sacrificed for fame, the girl that Jan had stabbed multiple times in the heart, the girl that </span>
  <em>
    <span>should be dead. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The memories came back to Jan in a flash and she whispered in horror, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gigi?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi gave each band member a wave and Jan noticed her other hand was currently holding onto another girl's hand. Taking a closer look, she recognised her as the orange-haired girl who tried to stop the band from taking her friend. She stood slightly behind the brunette but there was still a devilish grin on her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi flicked her long hair back and walked towards the singer, What’s wrong?” The brunette stopped in front of Jan as she trembled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gigi stroked her cheek and flashed a smile, displaying rows of sharp teeth, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so this is it huh? the end. i gotta admit this feels v bittersweet. im so proud of myself for writing my first multichapter fic and finishing it, but also i had so much fun writing this and seeing everyones reactions that im so sad its finally over.</p><p>i want to first thank my amazing girlfriend for always being so supportive and helping me out no matter! they constantly have been hyping me up with this fic and i love them so much. Next i wanna thank the cgps! the very group that inspired me to write this fic and without them this fic wouldnt exist! they have been so helpful and supportive and my biggest fans during this whole process! honestly they r some of my bestest friends of all time and i probably would have given up on this a WHILE ago without them. special throwback to when they thought i killed off crystal and put me in timeout.</p><p>lastly i want to thank everyone else who took the time to read this and comment and give kudos! i never ever expected the amount of support i got and it honestly made me so happy to think that someone out there enjoys the content i am creating.</p><p>this wont be the last of me! i have other fic ideas that i am v excited to now have the time to do so keep an eye out!!!!</p><p>once again thank you for reading and thank you all for bringing back my love for writing. </p><p>catch u on the flipside!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>wow! so this is very exciting! I havent been this excited to write a fic in a long time and I already have 10 000 words written for it! I want to thank the CGPS for inspiring me to make this and helping throw ideas at me! They have been so supportive and made me enjoy writing again!</p><p>I decided to make a new AO3 account to post this because I'm too nervous to share it to my main account asdfgh</p><p>If you enjoy please leave a comment or tell me what you think it really helps me want to keep on writing : DDD</p></blockquote></div></div>
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